Gen Z has seen unprecedented growth in women’s empowerment, as well as a staggering reduction in our constitutional rights. We are in a unique position to support gender equality.
In 1923, Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman introduced the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to Congress. As suffragists, both women understood that although women fought for and won the right to vote in 1920, they were not guaranteed equal rights under the law—something Paul and Eastman knew needed to be enshrined into the Constitution.
A century later, in 2020, the ERA was ratified by the necessary 38 states and now can be added to the Constitution. One strategy is for Congress to recognize the ERA regardless of the arbitrary timeline; another focuses on persuading the president to order the archivist to publish the ERA.
Nevertheless, people are still fighting for the ERA and constitutional gender equality. It’s astonishing that in 2024, women are not legally considered equal to their male counterparts.
For Gen Z, a generation that prides itself on embracing diversity, inclusion and equality, this discrimination cannot stand. Enshrining the ERA into the Constitution would provide legal protection to our generation and leave a powerful legacy for future generations, positively impacting all women, gender non-conforming and LGBTQ+ people.
“This simple, 24-word amendment is packed with the potential to protect access to abortion care nationwide, defeat bans on gender-affirming healthcare, shore up marriage equality, eliminate the gender wage gap, help end the epidemic of violence against women and girls and so much more,” said Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.). “With the flick of a pen, we can cement constitutional gender equality as the law of the land.”
“I’ve lived with discrimination my whole life, and it was very painful. We’ve made progress, but not enough. When I had my first child, there were no childcare policies and they tried to fire me,” said former Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), who has championed the ERA as the lead congressional sponsor from 1993 to 2023.
The purpose of the Equal Rights Amendment is to ensure equal rights and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex. It is composed of three sections.
- Section 1: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
- Section 2: The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
- Section 3: This Amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification. It is a proposed Amendment to the Constitution.
When the ERA was first introduced in Congress in 1923, no action was taken. It was subsequently re-introduced in every session of Congress, and finally in 1972 it secured the needed two-third votes in the House and Senate for passage. The ERA was then sent to the states for ratification. To achieve ratification of constitutional amendments, 38 states had to approve first within seven years. Then, an arbitrary extension was set for June 1982, but ratification fell three states short of the three-fourths requirement under the Constitution.
A three-state strategy was developed, resulting in Nevada ratifying in 2017, Illinois in 2018 and Virginia in 2020 after the deadline, but satisfying the requirements to be added to the Constitution. Now, the challenge is to recognize ratification, regardless of the arbitrary timeline that the states never voted on.
“The only thing remaining to get the ERA into the Constitution is a vote by Congress; a simple majority vote to clarify that the Equal Rights Amendment has been ratified,” said Kathy Spillar, executive director of the Feminist Majority Foundation and executive editor of Ms.
Gender Equality’s Current Legal Standing
“Although the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment has been interpreted to prohibit sex discrimination in addition to racial discrimination and other protected categories, the Supreme Court has adopted a ‘neutral’ approach to equality that does not allow for classifications based on race or sex to mitigate structural inequalities. This allows inequality to persist, and the ERA could introduce a new equality framework that meaningfully tackles existing systems of sex inequality,” said Naomi Mo Chee Young, policy associate at the ERA Project.
Since its introduction, the ERA has faced opposition, primarily for challenging traditional gender roles.
When a renewed effort to pass the ERA surged in the 1970s, the STOP ERA campaign, led by Phyllis Schlafly and bankrolled by the insurance industry, formed a staunch opposition. The campaign reasoned that equality would bring about changes harmful to women: unisex bathrooms, being forced into military combat, the burden of sharing family financial responsibility and the loss of financial support during divorce. These arguments are now nullified as many of these ‘issues’ have become societal norms.
We have seen major curtailments of women’s bodily autonomy in recent years. The 2022 decision by the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned the federal right to an abortion. The passage of the ERA, and its potential to constitutionally protect reproductive rights, has now become the prime target of its opponents.
It is time for Gen Z to join the fight for gender equality. We are standing on the shoulders of our mothers and grandmothers whose generations fought to make the ERA a reality. We must unite to make the ERA the law of the land.
Young people are underscoring the urgency of a generational alliance in the campaign to make the ERA law.
“I’m a millennial, you’re Gen Z. I think we’re the first generation [of U.S. women] to have rights stripped away from us, constitutional rights taken away instead of added,” said Young. “It’s an alarming time to be in this country where you see democracy under threat and to see an activist Court that is trying to eliminate our fundamental rights. So Gen Z should absolutely care about this.”
Gen Z has seen unprecedented growth in gender expression and women’s empowerment as well as a staggering reduction in our constitutional rights. We are in a unique position to support gender equality, demanding that it becomes a constitutional right.
We are standing on the shoulders of our mothers and grandmothers whose generations fought to make the ERA a reality.
Recognition of the ERA “would protect me as a woman and it also would protect other people from being discriminated against or not protected in our justice system,” said Ally Dickson, a former Ms. intern and member of Gen Z.
In Dickson’s article, “The Pathway to Recognizing the Equal Rights Amendment,” she spoke to Sign4ERA petition leader Bella Ramírez. “A true democracy relies on equality, and right now, we don’t have that. What the younger generation has to gain from the ERA is nothing less than democracy itself,” said Ramírez.
I asked Spillar why the ERA should be important to Gen Z. “Your entire lives are in front of you and without an Equal Rights Amendment, we’re in danger of continuing to lose access to reproductive healthcare,” she said. “Forty-two years ago I went to a rally because I was so shocked that the Equal Rights Amendment wasn’t ratified. I knew that we had to have an Equal Rights Amendment and if it was going to get into the Constitution, everybody had to get involved and that meant me too, so that’s why I did. … It’s a joy when you get involved in a movement that has real meaning.”
“We were not given anything. Women fought like hell. They worked incredibly hard to secure that right [to vote] for all of us to enjoy and it’s up to us now [to] expand it and put women in the Constitution,” said Maloney. “If they can take away our access to choice or access to abortion, they can take away any right. The only way they cannot take it away is if you’re protected with language in the Constitution.”
ERA supporters can sign the petition and get involved in the drive at www.sign4ERA.org.
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U.S. democracy is at a dangerous inflection point—from the demise of abortion rights, to a lack of pay equity and parental leave, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and attacks on trans health. Left unchecked, these crises will lead to wider gaps in political participation and representation. For 50 years, Ms. has been forging feminist journalism—reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from the front-lines, championing the Equal Rights Amendment, and centering the stories of those most impacted. With all that’s at stake for equality, we are redoubling our commitment for the next 50 years. In turn, we need your help, Support Ms. today with a donation—any amount that is meaningful to you. For as little as $5 each month, you’ll receive the print magazine along with our e-newsletters, action alerts, and invitations to Ms. Studios events and podcasts. We are grateful for your loyalty and ferocity.
