Bid to ratify Equal Rights Amendment dies in House panel (Virginia)

Source: The Virginian-Pilot

By Bill Sizemore
© February 1, 2011

... A parade of supporters testified for Sickles' measure, including Luanne Smith of Fairfax County, a retired Navy commander who put in 21 years of service without ever securing a single assignment at sea ...

The only public opposition came from Victoria Cobb, president of the conservative Family Foundation, who said the ERA would force churches to allow women in the pulpit against their wishes.

It was near the end of a three-and-a-half-hour hearing, and only four members of the subcommittee - all men - were still at the table. Sickles' bill, HJ640, died for lack of a motion.

A companion measure is still alive in the state Senate, but if passed it will likely meet the same fate in the House ...

Read more: http://hamptonroads.com/2011/01/bid-ratify-equal-rights-amendment-dies-house-panel

If I recall correctly, the amendment just sits and the votes can come at any time?

Thirty three states have already ratified. The ERA is working on five states, hoping to get three. They are mainly the "right to work" states, where the bottom line is the money it would cost the corporations, who hired women and did not give them equal pay, when they were hired along with a man. There is a lot of this.

We have gay rights, civil rights, but no ERA. This mainly affects women and their right to equal pay. It has nothing to do with churches, we have separation. It's about equal pay, because women earn 0.71 on the dollar....to a man. This is a well kept secret.

I'm helping with the issue campaign in Florida. The great lady is here, who head it up.

Umm. :wtf:

and changing social attitudes than it has been in getting official and legislative results. So it doesn't surprise me at all 70% of people Think that the ERA passed.

A hell of a lot of people often also say that they are feminists because they support equality between men and women. But then don't know anything about feminist history, scholarship, writings, authors, etc. and often "know" things about feminism that are either really odd or just not true. And many of these same people will often contradictorily be the same ones bashing "those feminists" as horrible radicals in the next conversation. I've never really understood that. But what does this tell us?

It tells us that feminism has been successful enough to make equality a self sustaining, spreading movement, even if we haven't managed to get the legal protections and guarantees in place that we need.

It tells us that people Want to be associated with feminism and equality. People want to be be thought of as the type of people who pursue equality and expect equality.

Yet, it tells us that they don't respect or appreciate how messy and dangerous real activism has been (and is), they believe at least some stereotypes used to attack feminists, and don't want to be associated with them. "I'm for equality, but I'm one of the good people, not one of those bad people."

I think it is at least in part because so many people want to buy into the message but don't want to be one of "those people" that we have had this split impact.

Unfortunately, to get the legislative results we need to get large numbers of people to commit to a movement, and buy into the idea that they are part of it, and personally committed to it. As long as they believe that the goals and progress are great, but the activists and leaders and scholars are not, we aren't going to get the type of mass movement we really need for something like the ERA to succeed.

personal note.
I don't know if I'm stating this very clearly or coherently. I used to be able to write much better than I can now. Unfortunately, to be honest, years of needing strong medications are taking a toll and I'm feeling it heavily tonight. So if this post isn't very clear, I'm sorry for that. :(

absolutely disgusting

unequal pay of women. Fla...GA....Al....MO....you get the picture.

Hard to believe IL...has not done this yet either!!!

I was too young to understand the ERA debate during its most visible in the 70s(?). Time have changed but somethings this amendment was written to correct still exist, but some don't.

Do we still need an amendment like this?