Suchergebnisse

Zusammenfassung
Seit fast 100 Jahren kämpft die feministische Bewegung für ein Equal Rights Amendment zur US-Verfassung. Getragen von einem neuen, aus Ablehnung der Trump-Administration heraus entfachten Momentum, erreichte das ERA im Januar 2020 die letzte der 38 benötigten bundesstaatlichen Ratifizierungen – und steht damit, so scheint es, seinem Ziel zum Greifen nah. Gleichzeitig jedoch hinterlässt Trump einen noch konservativer ausgerichteten Obersten Gerichtshof, der die über Jahrzehnte erarbeiteten Erfolge der Bewegung zunichtemachen könnte.
Dieser Artikel liefert auf Basis journalistischer Interviews und Recherchen einen Überblick über die ERA-Bewegung, die mehrere Generationen an Frauen mobilisiert, empört und für ihre Rechte sensibilisiert hat; die zugleich Spalter und Katalysator für eine professionelle Frauenbewegung war. Neben den Kernforderungen der Bewegung und ihren aktuellen Akteurinnen beleuchtet dieser Artikel die zentralen Kritikpunkte, die das ERA noch immer von beiden Seiten des politischen Spektrums der USA anzieht, und gibt einen Ausblick zu seiner Zukunft.

For over 3 decades, those engaged in the battle over the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), along with many scholarly commentators, have argued that ratification of the amendment will lead U.S. courts (1) to elevate the standard of law they now use to adjudicate claims of sex discrimination, which, in turn, could lead them (2) to find in favor of parties claiming a denial of their rights. We investigate both possibilities via an examination of constitutional sex discrimination litigation in the 50 states—over a third of which have adopted ERAs. Employing methods especially developed for this investigation, we find no direct effect of the ERA on case outcomes. But we do identify an indirect effect: the presence of an ERA significantly increases the likelihood of a court applying a higher standard of law, which in turn significantly increases the likelihood of a decision favoring the equality claim.

The Virginia MacMahon Ackerman collection consists of an approximately 30 page scrapbook (with a 12 page insert), Marketing the ERA in Cobb County, compiled by Ackerman in 1982 to document her activities to market the ERA in Cobb County, Georgia, 1981-1982 (folder #1). The scrapbook contains correspondence, flyers, broadsides, news clippings and articles related to efforts to ratify the ERA in Georgia, and includes a list of signatures of Cobb County residents endorsing the ERA. Also included in the collection is the photocopy of Ackerman's undated Rolodex (ca.1981-ca. 1982) of entries for people working for passage of the ERA including clergy, women in communications, law, media, and politics, male supporters, and student leaders (folder #2). Artifacts are an ERA Yes campaign button an identification card issued by the state of Georgia for entry to the state capitol for Ackerman's lobbying efforts on behalf of ERA Georgia, January 1982 a Cobb Women's Political Alliance badge, and a card distributed by the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE) with the Equal Rights Amendment on it and names, addresses, and phone numbers for Georgia legislators (folder #3). ; Virginia "Ginger" MacMahon Ackerman was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, 4 June 1939. She earned a bachelor's degree in business from Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia and was a stockbroker with Dean Witter Reynolds, Atlanta, for seven years and a director of marketing for Mainstream Access, Inc., Atlanta, for two years.