In 1972, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) passed the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and was sent to the states for ratification. Anti-ERA forces called the proposed amendment a dangerous new idea. They also said this "dangerous ERA" was backed only by radical feminists of the women's liberation movement. But was the ERA of the 1970s a dangerous or radical idea? Was it even new?
ERA History
Actually, the supposedly radical, dangerous, new ERA was fifty years old, and had been introduced in almost every session of Congress for decades. Early feminist Alice Paul authored the original version of the Equal Rights Amendment, whose wording differed slightly from the 1972 ERA. Alice Paul's amendment was introduced in 1923, three years after ratification of the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote.
A Variety of Support
Feminists of various ideologies supported the Equal Rights Amendment, not just radical feminists. The National Organization for Women (NOW), which contributed its full resources to the passage of the ERA, was a liberal feminist organization that differed philosophically from radical feminism and often had public disagreements with other women's liberation groups. As for radical feminists, they were not "radical" because they were on the fringe of society, but because they analyzed and proposed changes to patriarchal society from its root, which is what radical means.
Not the First Time
Meanwhile, in the intervening years between 1923 and 1972, the ERA was often discussed in Congress. Both the Republican and Democratic parties added support for the ERA into their party platforms during the 1940s. The Senate voted on the ERA more than once and passed it during the 1950s. The House passed the amendment in 1970, then again in 1971. Finally, in March 1972 the Senate passed the amendment during the same session of Congress, and it was sent to the states.
Many states also have equal rights provisions in their state constitutions.