Equal Rights Amendment Research Paper

Why We Need the Equal Rights Amendment
Women have had to work hard to earn the rights they have today in the United States. However, women legally, under the Constitution, only have the right to vote. Any other right is not constitutionally protected. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was created almost a hundred years ago to address this specific problem. Still, today, it has yet to be ratified. There are few explanations to as why this is so. The opponents of the ERA made strong points that many resonated with, including Representatives in the House. Though many will say the ERA is no longer needed due to advancements we as a nation have made, there are still many issues regarding gender inequality that need to be addressed. If enough citizens …show more content…
In an article released by Jennifer Calfas in Time, it has been said that, as of April 2018, women in the United States make $0.80 to every dollar a man makes. And it is even less than that for women of color. This wage gap has many factors to blame, but especially the common gender stereotyping found among American society. Reva B. Siegel, a law professor at Yale University, states that “persisting role conflicts between caregiving and breadwinning and persisting sex-differentiated role expectations for men and women continuously interact to fuel sex stereotyping.” Many employers still believe in the traditional gender roles, which can lead to the gender imbalance in workplaces. According to a study by Hilary M. Lips, a psychology professor, gender stereotypes make the wage gap between the genders even wider. Lips found that “women will be hired for 48.2 % of the positions and men for 51.8 %,” and the difference increases in careers that are stereotypically considered male careers (227). Due to gender stereotypes, less women are hired than men. The more prestigious or “manly” the job is, the less likely it is that a female will be …show more content…
Women make up less than half the members of Congress. The Center for American Women and Politics’ website states that only 107, or 20%, of the 535 members of Congress are women (“Women in the U.S. Congress 2018”). This means that when amendments or laws regarding women are being reviewed by Congress, there are more men than women making the decisions that do not impact them directly. Such instances can include when the Trump Administration attempted to roll back the federal requirement that employers cover contraceptives in their health insurance plans. Or the current attempt to defund Planned Parenthood because of the fact the clinics perform abortions among many of its other services. The issues regard females and their bodies and lives, and the issues should be addressed and decided upon by more

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