The Equal Rights Amendment was sent to the states for ratification the same year Ms. made its newsstand debut. It took nearly 50 years to bring the ERA to a successful vote in the Senate and House; and today, more than 50 years since, the fight to enshrine it in the Constitution goes on.
The ERA would expand and protect many of the gains feminists have made in the last 50-plus years, acting as a "safety net" for women's rights. The need for constitutional equality has only become more clear in the wake of local, state, and national efforts to roll back women’s progress, regressive SCOTUS rulings and a judicial system stacked with originalists, and a political landscape where our rights hinge on every election’s outcome.
The fifth and final episode of Looking Back, Moving Forward illustrates the power of the ERA's promise, and how the fight for constitutional equality is connected to the issues we've explored in our previous installments—women's political power, reproductive freedom, economic justice and the struggle to end gender-based violence. Experts and advocates share what they've learned in 50-plus years of ERA activism, and how they're fighting forward for full equality at the state and national level.
Featuring former Nevada state Senator Pat Spearman, Feminist Majority Foundation president and ERA movement architect Eleanor Smeal, the Hon. Carol Moseley Braun, Ms. executive editor Katherine Spillar and ERA Project director Ting Ting Cheng.
Looking Back, Moving Forward is produced by Ms. Studios. Executive producers are Michele Goodwin and Kathy Spillar. Supervising Producer, Writer, and Host is Carmen Rios. Episode producers are Roxy Szal and Oliver Haug. Every episode is edited by Natalie Hadland. Art and design are by Brandi Phipps.
Stay in touch with Ms. at msmagazine.com and on Facebook @msmagazine, Instagram and Threads @ms_magazine, and @msmagazine.com on BlueSky.
Stay in touch with Carmen at carmenfuckingrios.com and @carmenriosss on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, BlueSky, and Threads.
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