As we've mentioned in class, the ERA has failed to pass since it was first introduced after the success of the suffrage movement. In (surprising) recent new, there has been new activity on the behalf of the ERA as of this month, when the Democratic Party recently gained control of the Virginia legislature. As one of the states that failed to ratify the amendment by 1982, Virginia would be the 38th state (last one needed) to ratify (with Nevada and Illinois having done so in the time since). However, any action on this front would require Congress to void the ratification deadline. Do you think this will become a topic of conversation in the coming year? What are your thoughts on the potential implications if the ERA is finally passed after nearly a century?
Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/us/politics/virginia-ratify-equal-rights-amendment.html
I wonder if the centennial anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment will increase the discussion around the ERA. Women's suffrage was an enormous milestone in achieving gender equality and it would be a smart for feminist activists to use the buzz around the 100th anniversary to bring attention to ERA as well. Currently the majority of the political focus is on the potential impeachment of Trump so it would be sensible for the activists to wait to until 2020 regardless when the attention of the public has shifted before pushing for the passage of the ERA.
ReplyDeleteAlthough a lot of current legislation “guarantees” (as it’s revocable) equal rights on the basis of sex or gender, the ERA amendment would Constitutionally affirm such. If it passes, I wondering to what extent will our states and the executive branch will enforce it, and how. Considering law enforcement’s historical explicit and implicit gender and sex based bias (as the Justice Department reported: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-issues-guidance-identifying-and-preventing-gender-bias-law-enforcement), what will really change, and to what degree? As importantly, what will the cultural ramifications be? Because 80% of people already believe that the Constitution already provides these protections (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/breaking-americansby-94---overwhelmingly-support-the-equal-rights-amendment-era-300286472.html?tc=portal_CAP), I’m caught between believing that people will be shocked by this reality and subsequently take this far more seriously / have it truly changed; alternatively, it might not have a lot of cultural impact if people believe things are continuing “business as usual”.
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