Thursday, February 17, 2005
A Woman's Place is in the House... and the Senate!
Imagine a world where the Equal Rights Amendment passed the first time around. Women who joined the army could face combat, girls who went into the job market would be guaranteed that they would have as fair a chance at a job as an equally-qualified male, and David E. Kelley would be laughed out of Hollywood for trying to suggest that Ally McBeal was feminist.
Well, looks like we may see that all happen (except for the David E. Kelley part, sadly). A Nevada state assemblywoman has resurrected the ERA, heartened by the passing of the Madison Amendment and hoping that it'll grant some steady ground while women's rights are slowly being chipped away at by laws that, say, monitor whenever a woman miscarries.
But, like Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, if one must rise, the other must rise, too. And out of the fires of Hell comes the shrieking harpy that I can't believe my mother once had lunch with...
Schlafly said Wednesday that she'll come to Nevada, if necessary, to oppose the ERA. Time, she said, has only confirmed her original objections and created new ones.
"It's just as bad as it ever was," said Schlafly. "And it's perfectly obvious now that it would give us same-sex marriages."
Obviously. Does anyone else think that Schlafly thinks that, if women have the same rights as men, she'll lose the magical power of her vagina? After all, she's benefitted from a life of learned helplessness; why should anyone else with two X chromosomes want anything else?
So. Anyway. The ERA is back. Let's hope it passes, and Phyllis Schlafly bursts into flames before its glory.
Well, looks like we may see that all happen (except for the David E. Kelley part, sadly). A Nevada state assemblywoman has resurrected the ERA, heartened by the passing of the Madison Amendment and hoping that it'll grant some steady ground while women's rights are slowly being chipped away at by laws that, say, monitor whenever a woman miscarries.
But, like Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, if one must rise, the other must rise, too. And out of the fires of Hell comes the shrieking harpy that I can't believe my mother once had lunch with...
Schlafly said Wednesday that she'll come to Nevada, if necessary, to oppose the ERA. Time, she said, has only confirmed her original objections and created new ones.
"It's just as bad as it ever was," said Schlafly. "And it's perfectly obvious now that it would give us same-sex marriages."
Obviously. Does anyone else think that Schlafly thinks that, if women have the same rights as men, she'll lose the magical power of her vagina? After all, she's benefitted from a life of learned helplessness; why should anyone else with two X chromosomes want anything else?
So. Anyway. The ERA is back. Let's hope it passes, and Phyllis Schlafly bursts into flames before its glory.
