Lesson 8: Equal Protection: Gender

 To what extent has the gender gap narrowed and what are the best strategies for the future?

 Women in the United States have been engaged in the struggle for equality since the founding of the nation. Significant strides have been taken to greatly reduce the gender gap over the past 200 years. Clearly, however, sexual discrimination still exists. In fact, there is some evidence that the gender gap in earnings is growing wider today, after narrowing for many years.

A review of the recent past, reveals that a variety of tactics have been used in the battle to reduce sexual discrimination. Certainly, a number of important victories have been achieved in the courts, using the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Among other efforts, one of the most interesting was the proposed 27th, or so-called Equal Rights Amendment. The Amendment was intended to state, unequivocally, that sexual discrimination violated the Constitution. However, the Amendment was never approved. At about the same time, the National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded. NOW has spearheaded various initiatives to attract attention to the inequities women face, achieving many significant triumphs.

As the nation prepares for the 21st century, women are examining both traditional and less traditional methods as they attempt to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of their attaining full equality with men.

 Students will be able to:

• Discuss examples of sexual discrimination that women still face today.
• Examine the arguments for and against the proposed Equal Rights (27th) Amendment.
• Evaluate strategies that have been used in the past and suggest other possible strategies for gaining equal rights for women.

 Handout 8A "Examining the Gap"

Handout 8B "Solutions: The 27th Amendment"

Handout 8C "Solutions: We Demand"

2 class periods

Distribute Handout 8A, "Examining the Gap." Have students complete the exercise on the handout. Then, as part of the whole-class discussion, ask students to explain/ answer the following:

• What information can we get from this chart?
• What conclusions can we draw from the chart about the comparison of men and women’s earnings between 1979-1997?
• To what extent do you think that women should be concerned by the fact that since 1993, rather than narrowing, the gap in wages between men and women has widened?
• Suggest a title for the chart.
• If you were the head of the National Organization for Women, what tactics would you suggest the organization engage in to help narrow the gap in earnings? To what extent does sexual discrimination exist in areas other than on the job?
• Based on what you learned in this unit, do you think that going through the courts would be the most effective strategy for narrowing the earnings gap and ending other forms of sexual discrimination?

Distribute Handout 8B,"Solutions: The 27th Amendment." Have students complete the exercise on the handout (Students should be given at least one week to complete the research required for this exercise). As part of the whole class discussion, have students explain/answer the following:

• In your own words, what does the 27th Amendment say?
• Based on your research, discuss the major arguments raised in favor the Amendment?
• Based on your research, discuss the major arguments raised against the Amendment?
• Would you have voted in favor of passing the Amendment if you were a member of Congress?
• How can you explain the fact that the Amendment failed?
• If proposed today, would the Equal Rights Amendment pass?

Distribute Handout 8C,"Solutions: We demand." Have students complete the exercise on the handout. Then, as part of the whole class discussion, have students explain/answer the following:

• What do we learn from this list of demands about the conditions women faced in the 1960's?
• How do these demands compare to those proposed in the Seneca Falls Declaration? How can you explain the differences?
• Which of the demands in the 1967 resolution did you find the most justified?
•  Which of the demands in the 1967 resolution did you find least justified?
• If you were developing this list today, what demands, if any, would you add to the list?
• Do you think passing resolutions, such as this list of demands, is an effective strategy in the struggle for women’s equality?
• What other strategies might women use to end sexual discrimination?
• Suggest the possible consequences of these strategies.
• Which strategy, for ending sexual discrimination, do you think would be most effective in the 21st century?
• To what degree do you believe that the most effective means of ending sexual discrimination is through the courts?

 Write a short story, "If the Equal Rights Amendment Passed." In the story, describe how you believe the lives of women and men would have been affected, if the ERA had passed?

Ask students to assume that they were members of Congress during the 1960's. Have them each compose a two-minute speech, which they will deliver to class, explaining how they would have voted on the Equal Rights Amendment.

Acting as representatives for the National Organization for Women, have students write a list of demands for the 21st century. Students should compare the list they wrote with the list on Handout 8C and the list prepared at the Seneca Falls Convention.

Ask students to conduct research for the purpose of nominating women to a proposed "National Women’s Struggle for Equality Hall of Fame." The Hall of Fame is being established to honor women who have made extraordinary contributions to ending sexual discrimination. The class can establish criteria for entering the Hall of Fame. Each student would be asked to nominate a candidate.

Based on multiple intelligence theory.

Linguistic: Have students prepare a research paper comparing the rights and status of women in at least one other country with the U.S.

Logical/Mathematical: After discussing the chart in Handout 8A, have students compare the median earnings of women with the median earnings of men in other countries.

Research statistical data on the percent of women in high level management positions in specific industries e.g. the financial industry.

Kinesthetic: Have students pretend that they are at a meeting of N.O.W. to plan programs that should be successful in achieving equality for women. Among the ideas to be considered are the proposal of new laws, legal actions, rallies, marches and media ads etc.

Spatial: Have students develop an advertising campaign consisting of photographs, pictures and slogans supporting equality for women in business and industry.

• Design a visual symbol to promote the Equal Rights Amendment.

• Musical: Write the lyrics to a song either supporting or opposing the Equal Rights Amendment.

Intrapersonal: Have students explain their feelings about the status of women today and explore feelings about the status of women in the future.

Interpersonal: Have students assemble in pairs. Each pair will select at least two demands from Handout 8C that they believe should be implemented and determine the best method to accomplish this. Then have students discuss whether any of the demands in Handout 8C go too far.

Spatial: Have students explore the facts and issues in Frontiero and Arizona Governing Committee through the use of pictures, drawings and symbols.

Intrapersonal: Students should pretend that they are a woman who has been overlooked for a promotion in her job and plans to bring a lawsuit against her employer for discrimination based on sex. Have students write a letter to their employer expressing their feelings about the discrimination they faced as a woman. Have them write a second letter to their lawyer explaining what they hope to accomplish with the lawsuit.

Interpersonal: Divide the class into groups of equal size. Using the Project Legal method, each group should discuss the facts, issues and values in Frontiero and Arizona Governing Committee. In this exercise, the groups will focus on the skill of summarizing. Before a group member speaks, he/she must first summarize the views of the previous speaker. The previous speaker should then evaluate the summary.

Invite a speaker from a women’s rights organization to class. Have the speaker discuss the question: "To what extent has the gender gap narrowed since the middle of the 20th century?"

Research the arguments raised for and against the 27th (Equal Rights) Amendment.

Have students learn the words to the song, "I Am Woman." What does the song tell students about the women’s liberation movement of the 1960's? Is the song appropriate for today?

Study the chart below and, in the appropriate space, list two conclusions that you can draw from your study.

Conclusions from the chart:

1)

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2)

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27th Amendment:

Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.

At its first conference, in 1967, the National Organization for Women (NOW), adopted the following list of demands. Decide how justified each of the demands are and place a check in the appropriate box.