Equality

In honor of International Women's Day, I will now share some of my memories about the Equal Rights Amendment. Apparently I've hit on a theme. And sorry, this is a long one. I've been in bed sick for three days with time on my hands. I'm actually surrounded by the books I refer to below, which I've been meaning to revisit for awhile. I'm curious how my position on the ERA might have evolved differently if I'd been older and more aware at the time it was an issue.

By the time I really knew about the ERA, it had already passed in Massachusetts (1972), so I never had the opportunity to vote on it myself. Frankly, I didn't really think much about it. A few years later, the LDS church came out against it. I have no idea how my mom voted in 1972, but I do remember her carefully studying up on the church's position and expressing some concerns about the amendment long after the Massachusetts vote.

In 1981, when I was 17, I visited my aunt and uncle, and while we were sitting around the kitchen table, the subject of the ERA came up. I think that my uncle asked me my position, and I hesitated because I had no idea what my position was. Seriously, I hadn't really thought about it at all. It had already passed in Massachusetts. I wouldn't be voting on it. He slammed his fist down on the table, loudly recited the language of the amendment, and then demanded to know what on earth was wrong with it.

Of course I believed in equal rights for women, but even though the ERA seemed straightforward enough, I didn't know what I thought about it. I stared my uncle down (which was, in retrospect, extraordinarily brave because he was a Very Intimidating Person) and said, "All I know is that if my mother has concerns about it and my church is against it, I need to learn more about it before I decide what my opinion is."

That experience stayed with me, but it was a while before I really took the time to learn more.

The next memory I have is when our new LDS chapel was built in Littleton and reporters were at the open house. One stopped me in the hall and asked me whether I thought it was fair that I couldn't go fight in a war because I was female. I confess I was fairly oblivious to the larger context of her question. I have no idea how I answered her, but I know I wasn't particularly keen on the idea of going to war whether I was male or female.

At some point in college at BYU, I was asked to give a lesson on the ERA in church (this was before I developed my aversion to political discussions at church). Remembering my earlier exchange with my uncle, I dug into the research with zeal. And because I believed in equal rights and didn't understand what on earth was wrong with the ERA, I figured I needed to focus that research on why the LDS church was against it.

So I read these books, all by members of the LDS church:

• A Lawyer Looks at the Equal Rights Amendment by Rex E. Lee
• The Equal Rights Amendment: Myths and Realities by Orrin Hatch
• From Adam's Rib to Women's Lib by Maureen Ward

Despite the fact that I was a college student, it never even occurred to me to read opposing views. Of course, my job was to teach a class that represented the church's view. That view was primarily based on concern about unintended consequences that could negatively impact families. The basic protection of equality for all already existed in the 14th amendment, the LDS authors argued. Ongoing issues should be decided on a case-by-case basis with scalpel-like precision.

After being steeped in all of the anti-ERA arguments, I don't remember having any issues teaching the anti-ERA class. Funny how looking at only one perspective does that to a person. But here's the irony (I don't think this is at all where the anti-ERA voices intended for me to go): after all that reading, I was concerned that without being privileged, women could find their reproductive choices restricted and they might end up with even less support as mothers in the workplace. This was all back in a day when the idea of widespread paid paternity leave was an even more elusive dream than paid maternity leave. At the end of it, I don't remember feeling much one way or the other when the ERA was ultimately defeated. I just assumed we'd continue to move forward, tackling the outstanding issues case by case.

All through those years, I was pretty darn clueless about why people were agitating so fiercely for women's rights, even though I was an avid reader of the Exponent II. I think this was because I had personally never felt held back because I was a girl. I give my parents great credit for that, as well as all of the people who had already broken down so many barriers by the time I came of age. At the most, I remember being irritated that boys at church got to do cool outdoor activities and the girls always seemed to be doing sort of lame things. But I pushed back, and as a result we girls got to do cool activities, too, sometimes right along side the boys. Rappelling, camping, canoe trips.

The past few years my inner feminist has reawakened. I'm having a hard time, for example, with the way my community has reached a relentless fevered pitch on the issue of modesty that is objectifying women and girls. The latest image that keeps niggling at me is the recent Congressional hearing on contraception and religious freedom that consisted entirely of men. Lots of people were bothered by the fact that women were not included in a discussion that involved contraception. But what especially bothered me was that all of the religious leaders in that hearing were men. Seriously, where were the women of faith? I know, I know, I belong to a church that excludes women from the priesthood. The world is complicated, isn't it?

So there you have it. This is what happens when I've been cooped up at home for three days without much energy to get anything else done. I'll get back to work and post something short and sweet tomorrow.