Does the Equal Rights Amendment seem like a distant memory from your bell-bottomed past? Sent to the states for ratification in 1972 (required by 38 states before becoming law) and reintroduced in 1984, it has been considered by congress every year since, sailing right through the shoulder pad era.
The amendment, affirming equal application of the constitution to all citizens, was introduced by suffragette Alice Paul in 1923, 75 years after the first Women’s Rights Convention. She and her compatriots were attacked, arrested and force-fed for their advocacy, but they persisted.
Only 35 states have ratified the ERA.
– Lisa Cutter, SLJ 100 Communications