Equal Rights Amendment - Essay Example

? Topic: Equal Rights Amendments Paper United s didn’t have any law, whatsoever, to support equality of rights ofall its residents in the Civil Rights Act. This country was under a strong influence of gender discrimination. According to the laws prevailing here, women were not able to own property, vote for their rights, demand their legal wages and were not even able to claim the custody of their own children Men and women working at the same position in an organization were not treated as equals, rather wages for men were supposedly higher than their female coworkers, who weren’t even allowed to sue the organization for this murder of basic human rights. Gender based discrimination could also be observed in other social aspects. It was also seen screaming on the political front where women weren’t allowed to cast a vote and participate in the formulation of a democratic government. In the mid-nineteenth century, feminists(Gill)were the first to start the movement for the abolition of inequality from society. In this regard first planned meeting was arranged by the Women’s Rights Convention under the supervision of Elizabeth Candy Stanton and Lucretia Mott in Seneca Falls(Neale). This meeting was 2 days long and approximately 300 men and women participated.During the course of discussions, Alice Paul introduced the Equal Rights Amendment as(Francis): “If we keep on this way they will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the 1848 convention without being much further advanced in equal rights than we are…. If we had not concentrated on the Federal Amendment we should be working today for suffrage…. We shall not be safe until the principle of equal rights is written into the framework of our government.” The purpose of this meeting was to raise a voice against injustice suffered by women in the male oriented society, which mercilessly made them a victim of ridicule and disrespect. Congress was later informed about the meeting and a request was put forward that asked for the ratification of equal rights for both men and women, and inclusion of this clause in the constitution. This effort received strong opposition from men, as well as a few women, who were against the notion of women standing at equal footing with men. In fourteenth amendment of the constitution, congress appalled all the workers of feminist movement by paying heed to their endless requests and introducing the equality clause in the constitution. According to the amendment, all the citizens of U.S have the equal rights. The word “male” was introduced for the first time in the constitution while talking about the electorate rights that still granted the voting ability to only the men of the country. Susan did not accept the exemption of women from the right to vote and therefore went to cast vote in presidential elections. As a result of this act, she was fine, arrested and convicted with this apparent crime. When this case was taken to the Supreme Court, it was decided that although women were very much citizens of the country, it was not necessary for every citizen to have the right to vote. Fourteenth amendment could not suppress this effort and the campaign for human rights continued for many years thereafter. Stanton, Susan, and Sojourner also fought to abolish slavery and demanded equal rights for the slaves. Stanton and Frederick made many impassioned speeches, urging the authorities to grant females the right to cast a vote in their country. This resulted in the Amendment of suffrage which was introduced in the constitution and supported women’s right to vote. Just after three years of the ratification of suffrage amendment, National Women’s Party forwarded an equal rights amendment to the Congress, which was ratified for years in every part of the country since 1923. This document has passed through different phases and was amended a number of times and finally got placed in the national constitution in much modified form. It was incorporated officially into the constitution in 1923 as The Equal Pay Act. Implementation of this act earned women protection as female labor was not available at reduced prices(Berger). With the advent of the 20th century, the lives of the women therefore changed drastically. Subsequently many more women joined this movement which added power to their demands and great strength to their Point Of View. The main workforce for the struggle was provided by Carrie Chapman and National American Women Suffrage Association. Their efforts enabled them to work in a streamline manner to communicate with the government, put forward their demands and achieve their goal. In 1964, the Act against gender discrimination was included in the Civil Rights Act along with the religion, national origin and race under TitleVII. Title VII in Act of 1964 played a vital role in especially ruling out the inequality in professional jobs and employment. In 1972 some amendments were also introduced in the Title IX in which federal assistance was banned to educational institutions, this aid was distributed on the basis of gender. Title VII and XI and Pay Act played a principal role in the empowerment of human rights amendment that was being strongly demanded by the people. In a survey by the solicitor of U.S. government it was revealed that more than 876 sections of U.S. code showed gender discrimination references. Supreme Court was informed of the results of this survey and revision of the constitution was demanded. Although National Women’s party first identified the issue of sex discrimination in 1920in the face of severe opposition, the issue didn’t receive much popularity even till 1964. ERA basically constituted three sections described below(Hager): “Section 1: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied of 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.” Supporters of the equal rights amendment did not stop fighting for their aim after their demands didn’t get fulfilled in the 1964 Act(Ginsburg). They continued practicing strikes, marches, rallies and petitions with full heart and enthusiasm. The feminists weren’t hesitant in the slightest to commit civil disobedience and contributed greatly to other anti-government movements. These practices continued till 1982with the issue of gender discrimination remaining in the courts of the country since 1920. According to the new constitution, only selected white men were to be lucky enough to enjoy full rights, whereas women were to be treated according to the ordinary English law. Over a century had passed fighting slavery. Women got some rights as citizens of this country. These rights were made a part of the constitution. After implementation of the first phase, a second phase of women’s rights started which was followed by the demand of birthrights and equal rights amendment. According to this, women should also be provided with the citizenship of the country at the time of their birth. It also demanded that not only should they be allowed to vote, but should also be granted equal rights as men, generally. The call for ERA (equal right amendment) was joined by a number of people including organized labor and other groups. Government personals reacted against this action taken in the favor of women. Since the civil war, women were continually demanding for their rights but government officers did not respond positively and when they saw that the extremist movement was gaining strength day by day and actually earning women their rights, they frowned. The Equal Rights Amendment first reached senate and then on 22 March 1972it reached the House of Representatives. This proposed amendment was then sent to all the states of the country for ratification as the 27th amendment in the constitution(Ginsburg). Soon after the 27th amendment reached congress, its member put limit of 7years for its approval. The reason for doing so was to make sure that the implementation of this amendment fails. Just like the fragmented implementation of 19th amendment, 27th amendment was also implemented only partially. It was planned that the acceptance of the new constitution would be in 22 out of the total38 states in the country. But this process took place partially and slowly with only eight ratifications in the year 1973, three in the year 1974 and only one in the year 1975. From 1976 onwards this process was never noticed. Not all women were in favor of the ERA; some were against it and thought that it condemned the women's rights. Anti-ERA agents supported the argument that it will deprive the women of her rights that are to be granted by her husband. According to them, the ERA would give way to a more liberal opinion with the possible likelihood of extended abortion rights and approval of homosexual marriages. Some anti-ERA people rebelled against it because they thought that it would somehow bring an immense change in the both the business and the public sector. National Organization of women made a coalition with ERA and then together worked for the advocacy of pro-ERA duration. The last state to ratify ERA was the 35th state, named Indiana, which accepted ERA in 1977. The main revolutionist, Alice Paul, also died the same year, affecting the movement badly. The supporters of ERA were given the time till 1979 for the ratifications of their amendment, but they failed to do so. Advocates of ERA appealed to extend the limit and finally public pressure enforced Congress to extend it till 1982.After that ERA supporters gathered in a huge amount and marched towards Washington D.C. in 1978. In 1980 ERA lost the support of the Republican Party and the party elected its own president. Although pro-Era activities were being successfully accomplished by strikes, fundraising and rallies, the ERA was not accepted in the remaining three states. Till 30th June 1982, ERA did not achieve its target, therefore, country administration refused to consider further changes in constitution with regard to women's rights. ERA reintroduced amendments in July 1982 in front of congress and since then they were regularly put forward in every session of congress. Finally in the 110th session of Congress held in 2007-2008, new bills were introduced in ERA which gave it the right to work towards the ratification process without any apparent deadline. Besides above mentioned strategy, ERA ratification could be carried out by an alternate strategy that makes use of “Madison Amendment”(Stager). This amendment was introduced in order to recommend changes in the pay structure of congress. Congress passed this amendment in 1789 and its ratification took place in1992. As Madison Amendment was ratified 203 years after the bill was passed, ERA supporters convinced Congress that it has the power to approve ERA ratification of 35 states legally. This advocacy of the ERA was taken into consideration in 1996 and the result was narrated that it was surely possible to get this amendment accepted if the remaining three states ratified. In short, Congress passed the ERA in 1972 which was then sent to each and every state for its ratification. Out of 38 states, 35 ratified it but the rest of three are still disputed. Although the deadline was extended a number of times, varying economic, religious and social forces prevented its ratification. The issue of ratification of ERA is still under consideration even in the 21st century. U.S. constitution is unable to give women equal rights which they deserve being citizens of the country. Now it has been planned that Ratification bill in favor of ERA will be introduced in 113th Congress. According to that bill(Hager): Yet in 21st century U.S. does not have equal rights amendment passed as a part of the constitution. 14th amendment in U.S. constitution has not been fairly interpreted in terms of sex discrimination. By having placed ERA as a part of the U.S. constitution, nobody can ever roll back the efforts made in favor of equality of human rights. Unless or until ERA is made the part of the constitution, women will keep on struggling for their rights. ERA will also help in improving the U.S. position globally in terms of equal rights distribution among her citizens. More than 90% of the total population of the U.S.is in favor of developing equal rights constitution as well as its implementation for the betterment of their society. References: Berger, Caruther Gholson. "Equal Pay, Equal Employment Opportunity and Equal Enforcement of the Law for Women." Symposium on Women and the Law 5 (1971). Print. Gill, Sandra K. "Pacific Sociological Association." University of Calfornia Press 24 (1985). Print. Ginsburg, Ruth Bader. "The Need for Equal Rights Amendment." Women Lawyers Journal (1974). Print. Hager, Roberta W. Francis; Bettina. "Why We Need Equal Rights Amendment." National Council of Women's Organization. 2013. Print. Neale, Thomas H. "The Proposed Equal Rights Amendment: Contemporary Ratification Issues." Congressional Research Service (2013). Print. Stager, Allison L. Held; Sheryl L. Herndon; Danielle M. "The Equal Rights Amendment: Why the Era Remains Legally Viable and Properly before the States." William and Mary Journal of Women and the Law (1997). Print. Read More