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In reply to the discussion: Question For The Class: Wouldn't This Be The Perfect Moment To Re-Introduce The ERA ??? [View all]CTyankee
(63,901 posts)Sorry I was testy with you, but it stems from remembering all that bitter disappointment and when I realize that my granddaughters have, if anything, a tougher time than those days when at least you had some mainstream Republicans in favor of the ERA. Your reply has touched a nerve in me. Let me explain what I mean.
I got my wake up call when I read about an observation made by Ruth Bader Ginsburg last year, altho the context was the uprising in Egypt. She was asked if the new government should model their proposed Constitution on ours. She said she wouldn't recommend ours and that she would recommend South Africa's for emulation. There was a story in the NYT recently about how emerging democracies are doing just that: avoiding the U.S. Constitution because it is outmoded in today's world and it is inflexible. So I Googled the S.Africa Constitution and was impressed with all of the references to women and women's rights.
What you have identified is just that inflexibility. And I think the right wing that was just emerging in their newer form with Phyllis Schlafly was fearful that the Constitution HAD to be kept inflexible in order to limit the government from bestowing largely social benefits on women and children, as the claim for those benefits would then be rooted in the Constitution. That would turn the uber conservatives world upside down.
This is a sad realization on my part.