Minority status would be beneficial to the success of women in contemporary society, and it would provide them with the

necessary rights and judiciary protection to ensure equality. Minority status would give women additional judiciary support, and any crime against a woman where her gender was a possible motivation for the crime would receive addition investigation and scrutiny in court, and additional protection in the workplace, to ensure equal treatment with men, [Yarbrough]. Through the years, there have been several movements to increase the rights and protection of rights for women, including the push for the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA would ensure that the rights guarunteed to citizens of the United States must apply equally to women, as well as men, and that congress must enforce such measures, [The ERA: A Brief Introduction]. As with much change, this was met with enthusiam from some, and a strong opposition from others. There were many who believed the amedment would change the traditional roles of women, and there were those who thought that such a change was a good thing. A minority status would give help women receive equal treatment in the workplace, and would allow court intervention in the case of discrimination. Granting women minority status would benefit the struggle for their equality by allowing them additional court investigation when crimes were committed against women, and it would even the playing field for the modern working woman in the economy. Phyllis Schlafly, head of the Anti-feminist movement, viewed the Equal Rights Amendement as an atempt to take away benefits unique to women, while Susan Brownmiller, author of the feminist work, Against Our Will, would have viewed the attempt as a brave step for women to ensure equality. Schlafly viewed the ERA as a misguided attempt to raise equality, While claiming to benefit women, the ERA would actually have taken away some of women's rights, [Schlafly]. She saw the exemption from the draft and the extra social security for widows to be a benefit for women that the ERA would decrease. Women already had all of these additional advantages, why would they want to be equal when they could have the court skewed in their favour? [Schlafly] Though the leaders of the movement that promoted the ERA thought that an equal society would benefit women, and promoted equality between men and women, Schlafly saw it reasonable to respect the differences between them, [Schlafly]. As Brownmiller believed that women were equally as talented as men in several previously masculine fields and as she believed that women were discriminated against legally, she would have supported the Equal Rights Amendment. She felt that as in the past, women had no choice but to let men be their lawful protectorsit would now seem to be in urgent priority to correct the imbalance, [Brownmiller, 388]. Brownmiller also believed that in several previously masculine fields, such as law enforcement, women were just as skilled as men, though they were rarely given recognition; though women police officers are just as effective as men, [Brownmiller, 388], yet women have been excluded by tradition and design from all significant areas of law enforcemet,

[Brownmiller, 387]. Brownmiller would have supported the movement for the ratification of the ERA as it would have given women more equality when looking for a job and would assist in the correction of the imbalances women face daily. Schlafly believed that the ERA would actually limit the rights of women, instead of expanding them, though Brownmiller points out it would correct the bias against women. Phyllis Schlafly believes that women are not in need of the additional protection that minority group staus provides, yet Brownmiller would believe that additional support in the legislative system is necessary to give women the equality they are entitled to. By giving women minority group status, women would receive addition support in court if a crime was committed against them, and the case would receive addition scrutiny. [Yarbrough] Schlafly believes that women do not require addition protection, and mocks those who believe that women are so inferior as to require additional protection and legislation, they are just determined to preach this idea that women are unfairly treated in our society and they need legislation and government and taxpayers' money in order to get them a fair break., [Sachs]. This shows her belief that women are well-treated in society, and she disagrees with the belief that women are viewed as inferior, as she speaks against the belief that women require addition protection of their rights. Schlafly believes that women are already empowered and there is no need to act as if women are victims of bias. She says many are treating women as victims and telling women that you can't succeed because society is unfair to you but I believe women can do whatever they want [Sachs]. Schlafly believes that society is not unfair to women, and women are not victims of unfair treatment, so there is no need for additional legislation, such as minority status for the protection of womens rights. Brownmiller belives additional legislation and increased attention in court is not only a good idea for womens rights, but necessary for the improvement of womens position in society. Brownmiller calls for a system of criminal justice and forceful authority that genuinely works for the protection of the womens rights, [Brownmiller, 389], such as the one that minority status classification can provide. She believes that the current system, closely, and often harshly, scrutinizes the femail complainant and is moved to be more lenient with the defendant, [Brownmiller, 374]. Minority status would correct this problem, as a minority status would ask the court to pay attention to the possible discrimination against women, so that crimes against women would more likely be exposed and the perpetrators persucuted. Such measures are necessary for the improvement of women in society. Despite Schlaflys belief that women are entitiled t o certain rights that men are not, and that women are not discriminated against, there is evidence in court daily that women are not taken seriously or given due respect in court. She wants to increase the fairness in court regarding female complaints, and as minority status for women would create that, she would support the measure.

In current American society, there is certainly less discrimination against women than in previous decades, a single mom is more common, and it is an accepted belief that it is possible for a woman to be economically independent; however there is still a struggle for equal rights in the workplace, a situation that leaves much to be desired. In the 70s, there were less single role models; many of the women portrayed on television were married and housewives. Currently, the role of the successful single mother is taking over the small screen on shows like Once Upon a Time, Greys Anatomy, and Motive. The single mothers on these shows have successful economic status, and are able to raise their children without a father in the picture, a huge leap from the 1970s, when single mothers were largely left out of television. When Kennedy signed the bill banning wage discrimination, women were making only 58 cents for every dollar earned by a man, [Hauser], while today women make 70-80 cents for every mans dollar [Catalyst]. Though in the 60s, 70 percent of families had a stay-at-home parent, now [in 2010] 70 percent of families have either both parents working or a single parent who works, [Hauser]. Despite the academic acceptance for women that occurs today, they are still discriminated against in the workplace, According to the 2010 census, 36 percent of women age 25 to 29 had college degrees compared with 28 percent of men in that age groupwomen account for just 7.5 percent of top earners, only 3.6 percent of those companies' CEOs are women, [Hauser]. Adriana Kugler, the chief economist at the US Labour Department, says that "There are expectations from employers that women want to have a family and won't be as committed, and so they're not even offered an opportunity," [Hauser]. This shows that there is still unfair bias against women in the workforce that need correction. Though women have a come a long way in workforce participation, there is still much more ground to be covered before they can attain equality. For women to gain full equality and to receive the support they need, they should be granted minority status. The additional scrutiny in court would allow fewer crimes against women to go unpersecuted, and would give women a legal foundation for action against unfair treatment. Such a measure would help level the playing field for women, despite those who believe that things are better the way they are. Though many such as Phyllis Schlafly believe that women are better off as unequals, as they are exempt from the draft and widows receive additional pension, there are enough disadvantages against women for a more equal society to be worth it. There is the issue of inequality in court, as brought up by Susan Brownmiller, and the difference of pay in the workforce. The granting of minority status is imperative to bringing of equality between the sexes, in the workforce and in the courtroom.

Works Cited Brownmiller, Susan. Against Our Will. N.p.: Ballantine Group, n.d. Print. "The ERA: A Brief Introduction." The Equal Rights Amendment: Unfinished Business for the Constitution. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2013. <http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/>. Hauser, Susan G. "The Women's Movement in the '70s, Today: 'You've Come a Long Way,' but ." Workforce. Workforce, 4 June 2012. Web. 27 May 2013. <http://www.workforce.com/>. Sachs, Andrea. "Phyllis Schlafly at 84." Time. Time, 7 Apr. 2009. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.time.com/>. Schlafly, Phyllis. "'Equal Rights' for Women: Wrong Then, Wrong Now." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2007. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.latimes.com/>. "Women's Earnings and Income." Catalyst. Catalyst, 21 Mar. 2013. Web. 27 May 2013. <http://www.catalyst.org/>. Yarbrough, Tinsley. "Protecting Minority Rights." Info USA. U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 27 May 2013. <http://usinfo.org>.