EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

Should the Equal Rights Amendment be revived and made part of the Constitution?

Should the Equal Rights Amendment be revived and made part of the Constitution?

Introduction

Issues related to women's rights have always triggered a debate not only on the social front, but also on the political front. The controversy linked to women's rights is not new and it has plagued the progress of women in America. Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), is a proposal, which is meant to deny the passage of any law or legal provision in constitution, based on gender or sex discrimination. In this paper, the possibility of the ERA to be ratified, thus making it part of the American constitution is discussed.

Historical significance of the issue

Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed in 1923, during the Women's Rights Movement. It was due to the sheer impact of this feminist movement that the ERA got prominence and was tabled against the Congress for its ratification. Congress ratified the amendment, which was in turn was a great achievement for the proponents, who had fought for so long for the recognition of the equal rights for women (Mathews 2008). But they faced problems on the State level, because of the presence of conservatives, who were not ready to accept the reality and the importance of women's rights, thus the ratification of proposed amendment was put on hold (Kyvig 2006).

Then again, with the passage Fourteenth Amendment and the Women's Suffrage Act, the proponents moved the Congress with some amendments to the bill. But the proponents objected on the language used in the fourteenth amendment, which gave rights to the black citizens of the United States.

Apart from the fact that the Equal Rights Amendment faced tough opposition in the Congress and in the State legislatures, the activists of the women's ...