A Brief Study Of The Equal Rights Amendment In America

The thesis makes a brief study of the Equal Rights Amendment in America. The amendment which aims to eliminate sex discrimination under the law is a significant part of American women's rights movement. The ERA has attracted much attention not because it is an unsuccessful attempt to amend the Constitution, but because it symbolizes a revolution in relations between the sexes that has been in the public eye for years. The previous study of the amendment mainly focuses on the 1920s conflict which caused a split within women camp. There are also researches on the failed 1970s ratification campaign. Based on the pervious study, the thesis has developed the main reasons responsible for the unratification of the ERA. Moreover, the influence of the amendment on American society has also been dealt with.The thesis falls into three parts. The first part reviews the background of proposing the ERA. In this part, a clear clue of how American women came to make the demand of sex equality is presented through the study of the struggles for women's rights during the nineteenth century and the victory for woman suffrage. The second part analyzes three main reasons responsible for the unratification of the ERA: the conflict from within the women camp, the changes of social environment and the mediocre performance of the women's organizations during the ratification campaign. The third part elaborates on the impact of the ERA on American society. The most practical effect is that the amendment prompts the judiciary to consider the sex classification as a problematic one as the race classification. Besides, the amendment has made contribution to the remolding of traditional American values and the enhancement of women's status. The thesis not only gives a comparatively comprehensive introduction to the ERA, but also makes further study of the ERA by analyzing the reasons of its failure and its impact on American society.