Inequality Based on Gender

Julian Parish-Katz

Throughout history women have had fewer rights than men, and have struggled to gain equality. Today, though it appears to most people that men and women have equal rights, they are sadly mistaken. According to the Center for American Progress, the average woman makes 69 cents to the average mans dollar per hour. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is an amendment proposed to the Constitution in 1927 that says equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Since inequality in the eyes of the law is still occurring, Women should be afforded the legal protection and advantages given to most minority groups. The ratification of the ERA was effectively derailed by a conservative activist, Phyllis Schlafly. She made it her job to put a stop to the passing of the ERA. Her anti-ratification campaign, opposed the ERA because she thought it was going to take away the advantages that women are given in society, and that it would force women to register in the selective Service. Schlafly also claimed to be afraid that it would take away marriage benefits for women and do other ridiculous things such as make all public bathrooms unisex, and prevent women from wearing dresses. Her view of women in our culture is that men and women are different, andthose very differences provide the key tosuccess as a person and fulfillment as a woman (Schlafly 99). This lead Schlafly to feel that all of the ERA propaganda as she put it, would take away the womens individuality, and their ability to choose what they wanted to do with their lives.

Susan Brownmiller never directly states her feelings on the ERA, but she says that the reality of modern rape as it is defined by modern practice.is not the reality of rape that is defined by modern law (Brownmiller 378). If she thought the ERA would change womens status, then she would become the most avid supporter of the ERA campaign. Brownmiller believes that the standing of women in modern culture is unequal at best, and slave-like at worst. She states that the modern legal perceptions of rape are rooted still in ancient male concepts of property (Brownmiller 376), further proving her belief of unequal standards in modern culture. Schlaflys take on the appropriate status was that all women know that It is selfevidentthat the female body with its baby-producing organs her fertility, should be looked upon as her purpose (Schlafly 11-13). This statement clearly shows that Schlafly believes that the proper place for women is society is to produce and raise babies, and that this is their main purpose. Brownmiller however, has an entirely different opinion of what the proper role of women in society should be, stating, Men keep all women in a state of fearall men benefit from a culture of rape. That quote, with its tone of disapproval, shows that this is not the way that Brownmiller wants it to be. She wants women to have a part in society where they have more power, and are less dominated by men. The position of women in todays society is much closer to truly being equal than thirty years ago, but it still is not equal. Today there are differences in the pay women get, in who will hire women, and jobs women are allowed to have. Wal-Mart, an multinational retailer with over two million employees, gives two examples of womens inequality in the workplace: a woman wasnt hired because shes a woman and another time wasnt paid as much as a man because he is a man (The High Cost of Low Prices).

Women are not treated equally to men in todays society. It is obvious now that change has occurred in the thirty years since Schlafly and Brownmiller were at their peak activist time, but it is also obvious that this change hasnt been enough. Today women get affirmative action, at least for college, but this effort is not enough. Womens rights need significant legal backing to achieve equality with men. It is plain that to achieve equality, women should be afforded protections under the law as a minority group.

Works Cited Brownmiller, Susan. Women Fight Back. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Schlafly, Phyllis. A Choice, Not an Echo. Alton: Phyllis Schlafly, 1964. Print.