Ms. Gloria Steinem by Winifred Conkling
Author:Winifred Conkling
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
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THE ERA FINALLY passed Congress on March 22, 1972, but it never became law. To change the Constitution, the amendment had to be ratified by thirty-eight states—three-fourths of the fifty United States—within seven years. That did not happen. Even though more than 60 percent of Americans supported the ERA, only thirty-five states passed the ERA by the deadline.
By the end of 1974, thirty-three states had ratified the ERA and it seemed likely that five more states would get on board. To stop that from happening, conservative forces joined together to slow the momentum. These groups included the Ku Klux Klan, the John Birch Society, conservative religious groups, Phyllis Schlafly’s Stop ERA campaign and Eagle Forum, and Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority. These fear-based campaigns worked: By 1976, no additional states had ratified the ERA, and five states considered rescinding their approval.
Congress considered extending the deadline for ratification, and Katharine Graham asked Steinem to speak to the Washington Post editorial board about the issue. Steinem was nervous. In general, she had become more comfortable with public speaking, but this all-male editorial board made her anxious. “Speaking got easier, but there were certain kinds of audiences that could bring all the nervousness back,” Steinem said. She faltered in the interview, and the editorial board came down against giving the ERA more time for ratification.
As it turned out, Congress ended up extending the deadline anyway. Still, the effort fell three states short of the necessary thirty-eight for ratification.
Instead of losing heart at the defeat, Steinem felt optimism. “One inevitable result of winning a majority change in consciousness is a backlash from those forces whose power depended on the old one,” Steinem said. “Perhaps that’s the first survival lesson we need to remember if we are to keep going: serious opposition is a measure of success. Women have been trained to measure our effectiveness in love and approval, not conflict and resistance.” Another way of measuring the power of the women’s movement is to measure the strength of the resistance to it. The energy of the backlash reflects the energy of the movement itself.
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