Phyllis Schlafly was a women who was a conservative activist and supported antifeminism and antiabortion. She successfully campaigned and contributed against the ratification of the Equals Rights Amendment (ERA). Her book, "A Choice Not an Echo," was successful, selling more than 3 million copies. She was critical of the arms control agreement with the Soviet Union. She founded the Eagle Forum which is a conservative political interest group and was the CEO until she passed away recently in 2016.Schlafly's Family Growing Up
Schlafly was born and grew up in St. Louis. Her father faced long term unemployment due to the Great Depression. What I find ironic is that it was really her mother who got a job and supported the family during the Great Depression. The reason why I find this ironic is because I would think that because of this, Schlafly would be for women getting higher pay, better job positions, etc, but she was antifeminist until the very end. She attended college and graduate school, and before she got married, she was a teacher at a private school in St. Louis.
Schlafly's Arguments
Schlafly was an outspoken member of the opposers to ERA and organized the "STOP ERA" Campaign. STOP stands for Stop Taking Our Priveledges because one of her most known arguments was that ERA was taking away priveledges that women already had. She argued that ERA would do this by taking away the "dependent wife" benefits under Social Security, the separate gender restrooms, and exemption from military drafting. The Homemakers' Equal Rights Association was formed under her campaign as well. She argued that the ERA would threaten the security of middle-aged housewives without job skills. Though her arguments weren't completely backed up, they really struck people upon first hearing them. Many people didn't question the validity of her arguments giving her lots of supporters.
2 comments:
It's really interesting to learn how she was a worker in the time of the Great Depression! I would never have expected that when many of her arguments were based her enjoyment of women being suited to the home and the bedroom, although maybe she just hated working that much. It's also interesting how even though she was on the wrong side of history, she was still a brilliant mastermind when it came to political campaigning.
Great job! Although I completely disagree with her position on women's rights, I think that she has a very unique perspective. I was very intrigued by Schlafly's mention of the benefits that women posses such as being able to stay home rather than working. In this sense, I can understand her point of view, however, I still believe that the con's outweigh the pro's of being a woman, especially at this point in American history.
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