Tornadoes are created by a unique collision between systems of warm and cold air in only the most select of circumstances. Likewise, February 1972 created the ideal conditions for a “perfect storm” that would alter the course of American history forever. Standing in the eye of that storm was a dynamic woman named Phyllis Schlafly. When she wrote the February 1972 issue of the Phyllis Schlafly Report, she did not know that she was going to lead a movement against an overwhelming congressional majority, several acting presidents and their wives, the media, big donors, and a horde of “radical women’s libbers.” However, she still wrote her very first article on the subject as though it would be her last. Each point in the article was a point that she would employ throughout her campaign, and that we can still employ today. Just because the ERA was declared dead by the courts on December 23, 1981 does not mean we do not have to deal with the same ol’ liberal lines today.
The main problem with ERA was the hidden agenda that ERAers were trying to codify. The first item on this hidden agenda was to revoke the privileges enjoyed by American women who chose to be full-time homemakers. Phyllis argued that a completely gender-neutral system of laws would necessarily remove a women’s right to child support, alimony, and preference in getting primary custody of children in a divorce. Women’s libbers continually demeaned millions of homemakers by insisting that they were not living up to their full potential by choosing to stay home and raise their family. Phyllis saw through the ruse and said “It is time to set the record straight. The claim that American women are downtrodden and unfairly treated is the fraud of the century. . . . Why should we lower ourselves to “equal rights” when we already have the status of special privilege?” Women’s libbers did not want more choice; they wanted to remove choice by removing financial incentives for homemakers, thus forcing women out of the home and into the workforce. ERA was not about equal rights, it was about a hidden liberal agenda to destroy institutional protections for the American family.
Feminists and other liberals are masters at the art of victimology. First they claim to be “victims” subjected to unjust treatment. Then these few liberal radicals presume to speak on behalf of the entire class of “victims.” Then they make demands in the name of “social justice.” Then they wait until their demands are met before revealing the hidden agenda behind their demands. Liberals have been following this same pattern for years. Neither liberals nor conservatives believed that women were unequal to men, but feminists had to paint it that way to get what they wanted. Phyllis saw the pattern and called it like she saw it. She would not let the likes of Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem speak for her. She stood up and presented a voice of reason against what seemed to be a force as unstoppable as a tornado.
Similarly, it is incumbent upon conservatives today to reject liberals who claim to speak for them. Phyllis Schlafly said “If women's libbers want to reject marriage and motherhood, it's a free country and that is their choice. But let's not permit these women's libbers to get away with pretending to speak for the rest of us. Let's not permit this tiny minority to degrade the role that most women prefer. Let's not let these women's libbers deprive wives and mothers of the rights we now possess." As a young person, I refuse to fall in line with liberals that claim to be spokesmen for my generation. Instead, I choose to be my own voice. Likewise, there are conservatives of all ages, ethnicities, professions, and genders who refuse to be spoken for by someone else. We cannot all be Phyllis Schlafly, but we can all have a voice. If you do not speak up, there is certainly a liberal somewhere that will claim to speak for you. Speak or be spoken for, the choice is yours.
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