According to the Washington Post there is a push to again try and pass the Equal Rights Amendment that failed so many years ago. The Amendment, which was passed by the House and the Senate in 1975, needed to be ratified by 38 states. Only 35 states were willing to ratify the Amendment.
The language of the Amendment is very vague:
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.
Many women believe that this will suddenly increase pay and decrease sex discrimination. Unfortunately, men and women are not truly equal. Each sex has its own strengths and weaknesses. To say that men and women are virtually the same would be lying. Right now the Constitution provides an equal protection clause and this has stood up to cases at the Supreme Court level.
Would the ERA actually turn the tables on women? Maybe. Could the following happen?
- Young women MUST register for the draft.
- Women will not be given any preference for child custody
- Women may not receive any special treatment in the army or in physical labor jobs
The Civil Rights Act did not make racism go away. The ERA will not make sexism go away. Unfortunately there are too many people in this country that will hate you just for the color of your skin or that you happen to be female. A Constitutional Amendment is not going to change anything.
3 Comments, Comment or Ping
brettbum
My personal feelings are that it should have passed the first time around and it should be passed now.
Men and women may be physically different but I see no reason that that should have anything to do with legislation.
I’ve served with women in the military that served in combat and they were equal to the task.
I do think that the excuses should be removed if we are to every make any progress on this front. The civil rights act did not end racism but it removed the legal excuse.
I would not be against removing preferences/protections for women to sign up for the draft, child custody or removing special treatment anywhere.
I’ve seen very very bad mothers get custody over children while very good fathers watched their children suffer and could do nothing about it. I’ve seen women turned down for combat roles that were equal to the job and I think that coming right out of high school young men are given an instant reminder that according to the law of the land women are not equal as they do not have to sign up for the draft.
I do not believe that this legal issue holds any merit. My great grandmother believed in this issue almost 100 years ago, she passed away before she could see equality in legislation or at least inequality removed from legislation. I hope that my daughters will not have to wait another 100 years to see it fixed even if the fix is just a small step in the right direction.
Will it make life a little more complex? Yes probably, but I’d rather have this type of complication than sexism or racism for that matter.
Apr 1st, 2007
admin
Thanks for the comments! While I agree that women are up to the task in some instances, I fear that such a broad statement may cause more harm than good. I guess only time will tell!
Apr 1st, 2007
Reply to “ERA on the Move Again”