Ragers: Phyllis Schlafly

Phyllis Schlafly (1924-2016) was an anti-feminist spokesperson who successfully campaigned against the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

This month, we’re highlighting Ragers: women who used their anger— often righteous, though not always— to accomplish extraordinary things.

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Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more.  Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello for Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this
is Wamanica. This month we're highlighting ragers, women who use
their anger, often righteous, though not always, to accomplish extraordinary things.
Today we're talking about an anti feminist spokesperson who successfully
campaigned against the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. Let's

(00:21):
talk about Philish Schlafly.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
I'm interested in your characterization of Women's Liberation people or
as a group. In November nineteen seventy two, in your newsletter,
you wrote, their motive is totally radical. They hate men,
marriage and children. They are out to destroy morality in
the family. Do you still feel that Is that quote
still inaccurate?

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (00:45):
I think that it is an anti family movement. I
think they target men as the enemy. They teach that
women have been kept in a condition of oppression and
serfdom for all these years. It is a negative view
of life, and they wake up in the morning thinking
the cards are stacked against them. Now. I don't think

(01:05):
you'll get ahead in this world by projecting your problems
onto society and saying that it's society's fault. Everybody has problems.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
Phillis Stewart was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, on August fifteenth,
nineteen twenty four. During the Great Depression, her father frequently
faced on employment, so her mother became the breadwinner of
the family. Phillis put herself through college by working for
a World War II munitions testing facility. She later graduated
from Harvard's Radcliffe College with a master's in political science.

(01:40):
Following graduation, she worked at conservative think tanks and successfully
campaigned for Republican candidates in her hometown of Saint Louis.
In nineteen forty nine, Phillis married John Schlaffley Junior, a
wealthy lawyer who was fifteen years her senior. In nineteen
fifty two, Phillis decided to step into the spotlight and
ran for Congress, pitching herself as a traditional wife and homemaker.

(02:04):
Despite her victory in the primary, she lost the general election.
Phyllis didn't have a lot of luck in electoral politics.
She was closely associated with Barry Goldwater's losing presidential election
in nineteen sixty four. She lost the race for president
of the National Federation of Republican Women in nineteen sixty seven,
and lost another congressional race in nineteen seventy. Despite these

(02:26):
electoral losses, Phyllis remained strident in her conservative ideology. She
railed against communism, wrote books about national defense, hosted a
radio show on national security, and received a law degree,
all while advocating that the rightful role for women was
in the home. In the nineteen seventies, Phyllis's ideology collided

(02:50):
with new legislation moving swiftly through Congress, the Equal Rights Amendment.
The Equal Rights Amendment or RA was designed to guarantee
equal legal rights it's regardless of sex. Both houses in
Congress had passed the amendment with more than ninety percent support.
To become law, it needed to be ratified by thirty
eight states. Phyllis decided that the ERA needed to be stopped.

(03:13):
She founded an appointed her self chairwoman of the organization
Stop RA. STOP was an acronym for Stop taking Our Privileges.
The group was later renamed the Eagle Forum. Phyllis claimed
the ERA threatened traditional roles for women. She warned it
would take away privileges like exemption from the military draft,
while also opening the door to conservative boogeymen like same

(03:36):
sex marriage and co ed bathrooms. By the time Phyllis
began her campaign in nineteen seventy two. The ERA was
just ten states shy of being ratified. She needed to
find a way to shift the cultural momentum. Just a
year later, the Supreme Court legalized abortion. Phyllis realized she
could use the decision to gain support for her anti

(03:57):
ERA crusade. Apeared b to religious fundamentalists arguing traditional family
values were under attack. Phyllis's tactic worked. The ERA steadily
lost public support and was narrowly defeated, achieving ratification in
thirty five out of thirty eight states. You can learn
more about the ra its, promises, and status today in

(04:18):
season one of another WMN original show, Ordinary Equality. I
highly recommend checking it out. Phyllis's successful campaign against the
ERA made her a national conservative figure. It helped jumpstart
the family values and anti abortion movements, which are still
championed by modern conservatives today. Phyllis remained the chairwoman of

(04:38):
the Eagle Forum and continued to fight against progressive movements.
She regularly voiced opposition to illegal immigration, ballots and languages
other than English, Title nine, and the introduction of AIDS
education into public school curriculum. Phyllis died on September fifth,
twenty sixteen, at her home in Saint Louis. She was
ninety two years old. Philishlaughley was one of the most

(05:01):
influential conservatives in American politics. Her beliefs were shared in
her monthly newsletter and syndicated newspaper columns, radio commentaries, talk shows,
and regular lectures across college campuses. Her pro family movement
led to decades on conservative victories across all three branches
of government.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
What's the matter with being against sam?

Speaker 1 (05:24):
Now?

Speaker 3 (05:25):
Seven of the ten Commandments are negative, eight of the
ten articles in the American Bill of Rights are negative.
In fact, their whole philosophy of government is saying what
government cannot do. And that's the way you keep free.
That's the way you keep freedom is putting the shackles
on government in order to keep them from doing things
to you that you don't want them to do to you.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
All month, we're talking about ragers. For more information, find
us on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast special thanks
to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator. Talk
to you tomorrow