Girl Power: the rebirth of the ERA

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Okay, I know what you are thinking: so what and who cares? The ERA is some asinine dinosaur from the '70s which deserves to stay as dead as '70s fashion. Anyway, women are covered under the 14th Amendment and there's not that much discrimination.

Well, you'd be wrong for thinking that. With a renewed call for the ratification of the amendment and the lack of progress in the women's movement, the ERA is just as important today as it was in 1971 or in 1982, when the deadline for states' ratification passed, just short by three states out of the needed 38.

The Equal Rights Amendment was drawn up in 1921, only taking 50 years to make it to the floor of Congress to be passed. The amendment was written with three sections:

Section I: Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.

Section II: The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section III: This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

Is this amendment so subversive that Congress needed to set an arbitrary due date for ratification? Even though the 14th Amendment gives the "citizens" the right to "equal protection under the law," everyday discrimination continues to be condoned by the Constitution. "Citizens," when the amendment was written, implied male. And, it still really implies only male to this day. Examples of sexual discrimination are plentiful; just pick up any newspaper, any day of the week.

Thankfully, it appears that saner minds are beginning to prevail in the Congress. Recently, for the 25th anniversary celebration, a joint resolution was introduced to extend the date for the ERA to be ratified. In other words, the resolution would allow the three needed states to ratify the amendment, finally making it a law.

One can only hope that the Congress will pass this resolution, giving a needed push to end discrimination in this country.

With the passage of the ERA, maybe the state-supported sexual discrimination at the Citadel or the Virginia Military Institute can be just a bad memory - a bad memory where insecure little boys had to deal with women by pouring lighter fluid on those women and threatening to kill them. A bad memory where little boys celebrated in the rain like little jackasses because the first female student could not handle the pressure of being the one who had to break through the barrier of discrimination.

With the passage of the ERA, maybe the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would not have so many cases that they needed to investigate. Instead of the 30 percent of Mitsubishi's female workers being victims of sexual harassment, the numbers would have been greatly decreased. If the government appears to condone such actions with the non-recognition of equal rights, where is the impetus for the people of the United States to not discriminate?

With the passage of the ERA, maybe the glass ceiling would disappear, or at least be raised another few feet. Possibly, with its passage, the allegations against Smith Barney for systematic sexual discrimination would be a thing of the past.

Will the ratification of the amendment make these changes for women? The reality is no. With its passage, however, maybe women would be treated more like equals in some aspects, at least according to the U.S. Constitution. Maybe, when men's mental capacity evolves to the point where they can accept women as equals, then such an amendment would be unnecessary. But for the time being, it is sorely needed.

Let's not forget the great whine of the white male: women and minorities already get all the breaks. Who's looking out for us? Bill Maher, of ABC's "Politically Incorrect" put it best when he said that the white male has a lobbying group already. It's known as Congress. Hopefully, Congress will wake up and represent all the people in the United States.

Jeremy Pepper is a self-proclaimed pundit and philosophy senior. His column, ''Dash of Pepper,' appears through an act of very nice muses every other Thursday.

By Jeremy Pepper
Arizona Daily Wildcat
April 17, 1997