The stop ERA ladies, dressed in red & white, were out droves. I just cannot believe that their issue is economics. They look like they shop at Marshall Fields and have grown children. They do not look like they are the principle wage earner in their homes. Could it be that they don’t know anyone who needs this amendment? I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt, but how could they not know anyone who would benefit from the ERA? Are none of their daughters in law school or applying to law school? And have they figured out what they will do when they are widowed and their social security is only a portion of what their husbands paid in?
I am willing to listen and see what they are fighting for, but the fact is I really don't understand it. Their primary objections are unfounded and unintelligent. They say they want men and women to remain different. There is no legislation that could remove the essential, inherent differences of men and women.
The ERA is not going to require the integration of American toilets. It won’t make it illegal for men and women to pee separately in restaurants. Airplanes and most homes will continue to offer unisex toilets.
So I just sat in my folding chair, last seat on the left and who should appear but the Queen of them all, Phyllis Schlafly. All the way from Alton, Illinois, all the way from the last century, all the way from the far right; there she was wearing a pink silk dress, single strand of pearls and Stop ERA stickers on her back. I have to admit the women on her side are looking a lot better than we are these days.
The press was going crazy. Without a second thought, I grabbed my little camera and walked over to her. It was so funny. Everyone stepped aside as I stood just two feet in front of her. I had gotten one of the guards to buy an Illinois postcard for me and asked Phyllis to sign it. You would have thought I had asked her to sign the ERA right then and there. Her aides whispered in her ear and she in theirs. She asked me what I was going to do with the card. I told her that I would put it in my scrapbook and that I considered her to be a women of genuine historical significance. She was very cordial. She signed it. I thanked her. I went back to my seat.
Some press people came over to me and told me that if I had given them a moment’s notice, they would have photographed our exchange. Gee, that wasn’t what I wanted. I just wanted to meet her and ask for her autograph. I didn’t want a scene. No matter the issue or what side either of us hold, she is a woman of great power and has designed her own liberation. She is passionate and dedicated. I admire her commitment.
excerpt from The Hungry Heart ~ A Woman's Fast for Justice
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