The U.S. — Still Sexist After All These Years

Every woman and her allies should be incensed. The Equal Rights Amendment was approved by a 2/3s vote of Congress in 1972, yet it is still not the law of the land. Why?

2 min read

Just now

We Middle-Pausers may remember this fight. Maybe you took part. I naively thought it was behind us.

“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the U.S. or any state on account of sex,” reads the Equal Rights Amendment. It seems simple. This one sentence gives equality to women in a world where something this simple should be obvious.

Following the approval by Congress, 38 states were needed to ratify it into law and make it a permanent change to the U.S. Constitution by the 1982 deadline.

Only 35 states met the deadline.

The white states have not ratified this simple amendment. Image from https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/era-ratification-map

Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, and Missouri have not ratified.

Five states voted to rescind their votes. They are Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee, Idaho, and Kentucky. Legally, it is…