After losing ratification by a thisclose vote in 1982 and seemingly losing steam, there is a resurgence of interest and work being put into the fight for an Equal Rights Amendment, which would put language into the US Constitution that would guarantee women legal equality and prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender. At the forefront of that fight is an unlikely alliance between a Democratic and a Republican Representative.
In this fascinating interview at CNN.com, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D) of New York and Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R) of Wyoming are working together, despite obvious partisan differences, to get the support needed to finally ratify the Equal Rights Amendment after 90 years of work. Maloney has been introducing the ERA in every Congressional session since 1997, and now Lummis is working to build Republican support.
This doesn’t mean they agree on everything. On the contrary, they are each coming at their support for the ERA from two very different points of view:
Their backgrounds and what motivates them may differ; one raises the specter of sharia law, the other illegal abortions. But partisanship has no place when it comes to the importance of the ERA, these unlikely allies insist.
“The key here is just reminding people that equal rights have to be fought for, sought and obtained in writing,” Lummis says.
“If we don’t do it, who else is going to do it?” says Maloney. “The best legislation is always bipartisan.”
This partnership is a great reminder that there are different roads to feminism. Red Letter Press defines feminism this way:
Feminism is a commitment to achieving the equality of the sexes. This radical notion is not exclusive to women: men, while benefiting from being the dominant sex, also have a stake in overcoming the restrictive roles that deprive them of full humanity.
This isn’t a perfect definition, as it still operates under the assumption of a gender binary, but what struck me were these two words – full humanity. I like that. It’s not about women being superior, it’s about all genders being given the equal opportunity to experience their humanity in full, free of the hindrance of socially-constructed gender biases. That’s what feminism is, and there are different ways of going about advocating for it. Reps. Maloney and Lummis show us that its best when women work together in pursuit of that shared goal.
(Image via CNN)
Do you follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?
