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Biography:
Phyllis Schlafly (1924- ) is an odd contradiction - she is a strong, assertive woman who
has lead an active public life and made a major impact upon the politics and society in
the United States, but she is also an ardent anti-feminist who rejects the values and
politics of feminism across the board. It is very strange that a woman who has benefited
so much from feminism would be one of feminism's most active and prolific opponents.
Feminist leaders accuse her of not being quite what she seems, and there may be some truth in that. She does, for example, put on a happy face wherever she goes and her constant smiling seems to irritate some. On the other hand, she subscribes to a philosophy of "positive thinking" and, according to her, "the public display of fear, sorrow, anger, and irritation reveals a lack of self-discipline and should be avoided by the Positive Woman."
There is certainly a lot to be said in favor of positive thinking, but there is also a lot to be said against being dishonest and false about your emotions. Her emphasis on the importance of discipline is also revealing - she not only advocates personal discipline through being stoic and reserved, but she also advocates social discipline by holding people to rigid, traditional social roles.
Schlafly spent a lot of time writing in support of right-wing causes and even tried twice to get elected to the House of Representatives, but she found her real calling when she came across ERA: the Equal Rights Amendment. It was 1972 and it was coming close to passage when she concluded that it would do harm to women by eliminating some of the basic social protections which had benefited them for centuries. She feared the women might be drafted into the military and gays might be allowed to teach children in public schools, among a host of other potential boogey men of the modern religious right.
Although the wording of the ERA was innocuous enough, the recent Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade suggested to her that it wasn't possible to trust that future courts could not arrive at novel interpretations. Besides, she was convinced that the ERA was backed by a conspiracy lead by the National Organization for Women and other liberal interest groups to undermine the traditional and religious basis for society.
Schlafly traveled across the country, speaking passionately against the ERA specifically and liberal conspiracies generally, finding a ready and eager audience. It was due almost entirely to her efforts that the debate over the ERA became a debate divided along the lines of left and right. And, mostly as a result of her work, the ERA was defeated for certain when it failed to be ratified by New York and New Jersey in 1975.
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