Valerie Ho

Green Group
5/2/15
Feminism Essay
Women should not be treated as a minority, but rather equals to men, taking away any
gender based discrimination preventing women from reaching their full potential. Alice Paul,
leader of the National Womans Party, wrote the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1923
(The ERA). The ERA stated that there would be no different treatment on the basis of sex.
By the end of the ratification time period, the ERA was three states short of the needed 38
states. Phyllis Schlafly was anti-ERA, which hindered the movement greatly due to her
ongoing protests. Schlafly believed that women should have traditional roles, rather than be
equal to men, despite the fact that she was and currently is a full-time political activist. With
over 50% of the adult population being women, they are still being treated as a minority and
facing discrimination and wage gaps at work everyday (Affirmative Action and What).
Susan Brownmiller explains in her book, Against Our Will, much about the circumstances of
rape, and the inferiority of women as society shows saying, cultural sexism is a conscious
form of female degradation (389). Brownmiller supports equality, believing that women can
fight back and oppose rape, continuing to voice that the views of men such as, the violation
was first and foremost a violation of male rights of possession, should be changed.
Pornography should be considered a form of hate speech because it is one of the
underlying causes of rape. Susan Brownmiller stated, The case against pornography and the
case against toleration of prostitution are central to the fight against rape, believing that
standing up against pornography and prostitution will help give women more power and
privilege (390). Pornography promotes the gender inequality and male aggression attitudes,
without awareness, but plant immoral ideas into the minds of potential rapists, according to
Brownmiller. It is hate speech because it insults women, portraying that they are objects or
something to be conquered, often times leaving rapists unaware of the crime they have

Valerie Ho
Green Group
5/2/15
committed. In Youth, Pornography, and the Internet, the authors write, viewers shown a
documentary on battered women after an hour of watching a sexually violent film
demonstrated less empathy toward the victim, meaning the audience was less able to feel the
pain of the women and understand the immoral actions that were occurring in the
documentary (Thornburg and Lin 152). The research also showed that after women watched
the films, they were fearful because they could be possible targets of rape. With gender
equality, there would be no sense of dominance or fear by either individual, potentially
decreasing the sexual harassment and rape rates.
In contemporary America, women are closer to achieving equality, but there are still
big differences in status. A wage gap exists between men and women, and as of 2013, women
with full-time jobs, on average, were paid 78% of mens wages (The Simple Truth about). In
the 1970s, when the ERA was trying to be ratified, Schlafly protested that women should
hold traditional roles, but since then women currently make up almost half of the workforce
(Affirmative Action and What). The education gap has disappeared with women earning
55% of all bachelors and masters degrees as of 1999, but is still underrepresented in
categories that were not originally traditional for women. Despite the continuing
discrimination of women in the work force, they have been more successful than in the late
1900s in achieving equality. Overall, the basis of equality must be set in order to reduce the
amount of rape and sexual harassment that one out of every six American women have been
the victim of in their lifetime (Who Are the Victims). Women are not a minority group and
deserve to be treated as equals, giving all women an opportunity to maximize and achieve
their dreams.

Valerie Ho
Green Group
5/2/15
Works Cited
"Affirmative Action and What It Means for Women." National Women's Law Center.
N.p., 1 July 2000. Web. 2 May 2015. <http://www.nwlc.org/resource/affirmativeaction-and-what-it-means-women>.
Brownmiller, Susan. Against Our Will. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
"The ERA: A Brief Introduction." ERA. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2015.
<http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/overview.htm>.
"The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap." AAUW. N.p., 2015. Web. 3 May 2015.
<http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/>.
Thornburgh, Dick, and Herbert Lin. Youth, Pornography, and the Internet. N.p.: n.p.,
2002. Print.
"Who Are the Victims?" RAINN. N.p., 2009. Web. 3 May 2015.
<https://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims>.