28 pages • 56-minute read
For the Equal Rights Amendment
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Themes
Gender Equality
The most prominent theme addressed in Chisholm’s “For the Equal Rights Amendment’’ is gender equality. The entire premise of the Equal Rights Amendment—and Chisholm’s support of this law—is the belief that all people, regardless of sex, should be given equal opportunities and protections under the law. Chisholm elaborates on this theme continually throughout the speech and offers a wide variety of examples of the impact of gender equality (and inequality) on individuals and society as a whole. Particularly, Chisholm shows the negative impact of the current gender discrimination that is legally allowed to take place, and she points to the ways that formalizing gender equality in the United States Constitution would change the American workplace, economy, and society at large for the better.
The power available to males and females in any particular society is often a significant factor in the way civilization is structured, and social order is maintained. Though many modern societies have taken on a patriarchal—or male-centric—power structure, this is not the case for many other civilizations throughout human history. Indigenous groups such as India’s Khasi tribe, the Akan people of Ghana, and the Chickasaw people of North America have all utilized matriarchal power systems. In these communities, women occupy significant leadership roles in governing the society and often make the most important decisions for the community.
As seen in many civilizations throughout history, societies tend to struggle when one sex is placed in a particularly submissive or subservient role in relation to the other. However, as Chisholm argues in her speech, gender discrimination in the US during the 1960s was “so widespread that it seem[ed] to many persons normal, natural and right” (Paragraph 1). The law reinforced the concept of women as second-class citizens, even depriving them of control over their own bodies by offering no legal access to birth control or abortion and no legal protection from marital rape. Chisholm lays out many examples of how women, up until this point, had not been afforded equal treatment, and she makes a clear case for why gender equality is necessary for American society to function and thrive. Chisholm continually refers to “social discrimination” and “artificial distinctions” to emphasize the fact that unequal treatment of women in the US is not based on any objective, defensible reasoning. Rather, it is simply a method for the men in power to maintain their power and relegate women to lesser rungs of the social ladder. She demands change in order to bring equality to all people in the United States, regardless of sex.
Economic Opportunity
Another theme addressed continually throughout Chisolm’s speech is economic opportunity. This theme connects directly to the prior theme of gender equality because, in the context of this speech, Chisholm discusses the importance of equal economic opportunities for both men and women to be protected by the United States Constitution. Particularly, she argues for the rights of women to have access to the same economic opportunities as their male counterparts and colleagues, and for these opportunities to be enshrined in law.
Economic opportunity is a significant theme throughout United States history, beginning with the earliest settlers to the American colonies. Many of these explorers came to the “New World” in search of better economic opportunities and the chance to earn vastly more money than they could have in Europe. The idea of the American Dream is centered on the theme of economic opportunity. Throughout the country’s history, American leaders have asserted the ideal that anyone who works hard and is motivated enough can achieve economic independence and success in the United States.
As the American economy grew more complex and industrialized at the turn of the 20th century, people in the United States had more opportunities than ever for individual economic success. Many women worked outside the home in factories, offices, and other areas, particularly during World War I and World War II. These new job opportunities offered economic independence that women had rarely previously experienced in the largely patriarchal American society. Near the midpoint of the 20th century, women had many more economic opportunities than those of previous generations. However, their ability to truly thrive economically was limited by restrictive laws. Women were prevented from attending some colleges, working certain jobs, and performing particular duties in the workplace. A lack of legal protection against employment discrimination also resulted in a legalized pay gap, hiring decisions based on gender, and the firing of pregnant women. Financial independence was also difficult to attain as women had no access to credit and often could not open a bank account without their husbands’ signatures.
These restrictions created a limit on women’s ability to rise to higher levels of economic opportunity, and they are significant evidence in Chisholm’s argument for the necessity of the Equal Rights Amendment. By bringing attention to these long-standing economic disparities, Chisholm argues, progress would be made to change the structure of the US economy to offer equal opportunities to both men and women.
Human Dignity
A broader, more philosophical idea discussed in Chisholm’s speech is the theme of human dignity. While she appeals to the logic and pragmatism of her audience by addressing many practical ways that the Equal Rights Amendment will improve life for both men and women in the United States, she also explores the deeper philosophical and moral concept of human dignity. Regardless of practical impacts, Chisolm ultimately declares that men and women should receive equal treatment in America because they are equally deserving and valuable as human beings.
Human dignity can be a difficult theme to define, and many philosophers and scholars throughout history have attempted to do so in their own ways. When defining dignity, the Stanford University Encyclopedia of Philosophy explains:
[Dignity] is typically used in the couplet ‘human dignity’ to denote a kind of basic worth or status that purportedly belongs to all persons equally, and which grounds fundamental moral or political duties or rights. In this sense, many believe that dignity is a defining ideal of the contemporary world, especially in western society (Debes, Remy. “Dignity.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2023).
In other words, the idea that all humans have inherent value, regardless of their race, sex, class, or any other factor, is the foundation of modern civilizations. Without this basic understanding of human dignity, some philosophers argue, societies ultimately fall into chaos and destruction.
Chisholm draws on this theme of human dignity to make her final emotional appeal in the speech. She explains how the Founding Fathers, when framing the Constitution, had an ideal of equality, but their limited life experiences prevented them from seeing equal human dignity in women and minorities—or at least writing their rights into the law. Chisholm urges her fellow Congressmen and women to correct this error and to help make the United States a country where all people are truly treated, under the law, with an equal level of dignity. Because all people have inherent human dignity, it is morally imperative to grant them equal rights and opportunities in a civilized society.
By invoking Kanowitz in the closing lines of her speech, Chisholm drives this point home. Kanowitz’s quote is entirely about human dignity and the inability of humans to see dignity in one another until they treat each other without prejudice or discrimination. Only when all people see each one another’s “essential humanity,” Kanowitz insists, will a society truly reach its greatest potential.
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