The Equal Rights Amendment, which would outlaw any type of sex discrimination, was first proposed ninety-eight years ago. Recently, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment in 2020, five decades after Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972.

Before the Equal Rights Amendment, women did not have equal pay, were underpaid, overworked, did not have the right to take leave from a workplace to care for a newborn or adopted child, were not permitted or had very little time to take breaks, worked in unsafe or unsanitary conditions, and more.

An example of how poorly women were treated was The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Women were not permitted to leave the factory or even take breaks, and because the doors were frequently locked to prevent this, many women were unable to evacuate once the fire broke out.

On that day (March 25th, 1911) over One hundred and forty-six manufacturing employees died as a result of the fire. It was on the top three levels of the Asch Building, which was ten stories tall. Some ladies died as a result of falls or because they were unable to flee. 

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When reading “Virginia Just Became the 38th State to Pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Here’s What to Know About the History of the ERA” By Tara Law, I took notice of section 1, stating “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This is important because This part of the amendment effectively indicates that gender equality should not be denied by any state based on gender. To further explain, this means that legally, a person’s rights may not be restricted in any manner, nor may he or she be granted any benefits, based on his or her gender.

Lastly, a Snapshot that stuck out to me was by Jaisely Dominguez’s. Their snapshot represents the women that tried to escape but could not. As previously stated, That day, over 100 employees had died and the majority of them were young women. Doors that were kept shut to prevent staff from creating escape routes. The manufacturing floor’s main exit was built so that only one person could pass through at a time; existing workers had their purses searched by a night watchman.

The tragedy was so severe that it drew global attention to the dangers of factory sweatshops, prompting the adoption of several rules and regulations to better safeguard employees’ safety.

The right of women to vote in elections is known as women’s suffrage. Women attempted to modify voting rules to allow females to vote beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, in addition to their work for broad-based economic and political equality and social changes. The woman’s suffrage campaign was significant because it culminated in the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave women the right to vote for the first time. 

A snapshot that stood out to me was Alison’s, as seen in the image was a group of white women photographed protesting for women’s suffrage.

However, though they are fighting for women’s rights, we do not see any black women nor any people of color in the photograph. The group holds placards that refer to both the amendment and suffrage, both of which exclusively apply to white women.

When I was reading through the One Hundred Years Toward Suffrage: An Overview (A timeline), I came across a section on Ida B. Wells and what she did for the movement, especially for black women and the black community as a whole. 

That’s when I realized that individuals of color were unable to participate in the movement which Ida fought for. She chose to contribute to the movement because wanted to advance the cause of black equality and black power. 

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a well-known journalist, activist, and researcher. Throughout her life, she confronted sexism, racism, and brutality. Wells-Barnett, a brilliant writer, also utilized her journalistic abilities to bring attention to the circumstances of African Americans throughout the South. To name a few of her numerous accomplishments, Wells founded the first black kindergarten, organized black women, and helped elect the city’s first black councilman. I believe she felt it necessary to fight for black women and people of color because no one else would.

In How To Think Like An Activst By Wendy Syfret, A quote that stood out to me was “Activsm is a powerful thing. It has the ability to change communities and lives, and recorder the way we think about our place in the world.” Activism is described as attempts to support, obstruct, guide, or interfere with societal, political, economic, or environmental reforms in order to achieve positive change. Activism is essential because it has played a significant part in the abolition of slavery, the protection of workers from mistreatment, the protection of the environment, the promotion of equality of the sexes, the opposition to racism, and many other vital problems. Through activism, there are several additional challenges that could be resolved. 

 Karinys Carrillo shared an image that stuck out to me; it depicted a little girl holding up a sign that says “Little girls with dreams become women with vision”, which reminded me of the girls and young women in Girl Connected.

The girls and young women in Girl Connected discuss the difficulties that women face in their country, such as being unable to attend school, being told to stay at home to cook, and clean, being pressured into arranged marriages to help support their families and more. 

Josie, a is a peer health educator from Pucallpa, Peru. After seeing schoolmates drop out of school due to teen pregnancy, she was encouraged to teach other young women about consent, pregnancy, and why it is important to use protection or to avoid sexual activity altogether. While Josie educates other women about their bodies, Michelle from Kenya battles gender prejudices every day, notably because there are only six girls in her class (including herself) she understands that education will allow accomplishing more to help the other girls and women in her family and community. 

Throughout the film, many of the girls state that they are often questioned about why they are advocating for young women and girls and the answer is that many women and other individuals desire to bring change so that women can feel and be empowered. They want women to go to school, to work, break away from, gender roles, to be inspired, and much more.

In addition, because of the many challenges we face today, we must advocate if we want to see positive change. We should also be open to helping one another and educating ourselves. There are many various types of activism that may be used to effect change, such as writing and addressing letters, organizing or participating in a political campaign, or avoiding certain businesses, and also demonstrative forms of activism such as rallies, strikes, or sit-ins. All of these are quite useful in terms of achieving significant improvement in our society.

In The Gender Knot, Johnson demonstrates how people’s experiences of sexism are a direct outcome of our society’s patriarchal framework. He explains how the typical individual contributes to patriarchal oppression by refusing to question the existing system, suggesting that because males directly profit from patriarchy. 

Johnson deconstructs the patriarchy’s ability to favor males while also making them feel inferior. Patriarchy has an impact on many aspects of society, including political leadership, corporate management, faith-based organizations, the economy, and property ownership, all the way down to our communities or homes, where men are viewed as the main providers. 

He also critiques the men’s rights movement’s motivations as well as the use of the term “misandry.” This refers to generalized hate, disdain, or prejudice against males and boys. Social inequality, sexism, antagonism, mockery, demeaning of males, violence against men, and sexual objectification are all examples of misandry.

According to the text, “Patriarchy is a kind of society organized around certain kinds of social relationships and ideas that shape paths of least resistance.” For example, A patriarchal society is one in which males govern and determine all the principles, while women stay at home and care for the children. 

MeiQi’s snapshot illustrates that patriarchy is equally harmful to males as it is to women. Many men tend to separate their thoughts and depict seeking help because it is seen even though a sign of weakness. It’s a never-ending pressure on men to conform to a limited notion of masculinity, compete with one another, and demonstrate their manhood by denying their humanity and giving up their distinctiveness. 

However, patriarchy is not restricted to men. Women who have the same ideas and prejudices as men may be equally patriarchal. Many women still think that males should have greater control over them rather than being equal to men.

Growing up, my mother constantly told me as a young girl that if I ever married, I should be able to cook and clean for my spouse, but she never mentioned this to my brother. She would also advise me to chew with my mouth closed, carry a purse whenever I went out, and never sit with my legs spread. Again,  t his was never addressed to brother, who was referred to as the “Man of the House” regularly. Although she no longer expresses or behaves in this manner, she did succumb to patriarchy in the past.

Patriarchy has been challenged for numerous generations, and it will take many more before it is entirely removed. Regardless of our practice or stage of life, we all have various alternatives for combating the patriarchal system. We must acknowledge the influence of patriarchy and embrace our social privilege to abolish it. One approach to dismantle the patriarchy is to educate ourselves so that we are more open to having discussions and allowing development opportunities. Another option is to analyze how gender roles can change at home and outside the home, as well as how standards and expectations differ between men and boys in the same household. Finally, we should concentrate on developing appropriate alternatives to existing power structures.

Rayomah’s artwork was chosen for this response because I felt it best related to Peggy McIntosh’s White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. A quote that stood out to me was “Whiteness protected me from many kinds of hostility, distress, and violence, which I was being subtly trained to visit in turn upon people of color.” This quote and illustration demonstrate that we should all be treated equally, rather than one race having more privileges than the other. We are all humans, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, or religion, and everyone deserves basic human rights.

Many people of color are unlikely to have experienced what McIntosh has. We don’t have the same advantages as most white people, such as not having to worry about our safety because of the police, not being judged based on our physical appearance, being able to find representation in literature or media, not being subjected to racial bias, being able to avoid racial stereotypes, and so on.

It is not racist, however, to acknowledge one’s white privilege. White privilege continues as a result of long-standing racism and prejudice.

In the black community, the majority of us grew up viewing police officers as a source of danger rather than a source of protection, especially in light of recent events. Personally, I’ve never thought of them as a threat, although I have had “the talk” previously. 

Despite the fact that I have never been in danger as a result of my race, I have been treated differently in public because of it. When I went into a beauty supply store, I was followed by someone who worked there, which made me feel uneasy. I also overheard them talking about me as if they were checking to see whether I was stealing or not. It got to the point where I was so fed up that I walked out of the store and never returned. On another occasion, I went thrift shopping with my black cousin and friend, and not only were we followed by the employees but we were also accused of stealing because we had our own bags. This led me to believe in our appearance. We are seen as thieves or as a threat to other people since we are often judged on our appearance. 

What we can do as a society is respect one another and recognize that one set of people should not have more privilege than another because, regardless of who we are, we are all human beings with rights.