Mae GilliganGreen GroupFeminism Essay

Approximately 3.5 billion people in the world have been wrongfully persecuted throughout all of recorded history, but only recently has it become a topic deemed appropriate to discuss. In order to counteract the long history of objectification and oppression that women have endured, many have argued that they require legal protection of the variety afforded to minorities. Since the fight to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s, this has been a major debate, its opponents and supporters ranging from all sides of the political spectrum, from the liberal left to the far right. Although women are not a minority in the world, their deplorable treatment and ingrained societal objectification, such as in pornography, has made it necessary for them to receive similar legal protection to minorities. In the 1970s feminists across America fought to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. It was composed of 24 words, and would have made discriminatory laws illegal from then on, as well as abolished any discriminatory laws. Instead, the law was ratified in 35 states, 3 states short of what was needed, and this is largely attributed to conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly and her tireless Stop ERA campaign. In an interview with Time Magazine, Schlafly stated that feminism is not about success for women. It is about treating women as victims and about telling women that you can't succeed because society is unfair to you. She opposed the ERA and feminism because in her opinion, they were useless, as women had already achieved the state in which they were meant to be.In chapter 12 of her feminist book Against Our Will, Susan Brownmiller argues in favor of feminist legislation in order to prevent sexual assault. One of her arguments is specifically related to pornography. The first amendment, while protecting the right to free speech, does not protect the right to hate speech, particularly racial slurs. These slurs are a punishable offense because they stereotype and belittle one racial group. It is now a given that these should be made illegal. But the debate over pornography rages on. Brownmiller argues that there can be no equality in porn, and that it is designed to dehumanize women. This is just as true of racial slurs, and yet pornography is a first amendment right? Brownmiller, logically, found this outrageous, and would have absolutely supported the media campaign for the ERA, which counteracted the media-propagated image of women as subservient.Contemporary America is a much more equal place than it has been, However, in my opinion and experience, it is still not equal. If the United States government is meant to be, to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, of the people, by the people, and for the people, then why there are only 20 women in a Senate of 100 people (Center for American Women in Politics)? Though this is a major improvement over 1985, when there were only 2, its a gross misrepresentation. Other nations have begun to use quotas in order to integrate more women into their governments and become more equal, a process similar to the affirmative action used to defend minorities. The website Quota Project, a collection of data on political quotas for women, says that The core idea behind this system is to recruit women into political positions and to ensure that women are not only a token few in political life. In India, for example, 1/3 of government seats are required to be filled by women (Quota Project). America needs to adopt a system like this in order to ensure that women have a voice in issues that matter to them. Women inherently deserve the same rights as men. They deserve the same basic voice in their government, and they deserve to be taken seriously by the world. Until such time as this occurs, legal protection of the variety given to minorities in necessary to begin eradicating sexism.

Works CitedBrownmiller, Susan. Against Our Will. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Center for American Women in Politics. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, n.d. Web. 3 May 2015. . Quota Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2015.