The Fight for Equality Didn’t End with the Vote—It Was Just the Beginning. This is the untold story of the women who refused to stop at suffrage—and the legal revolution they set in motion. From the vision of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who believed the equal rights of women must be written into the Constitution itself, to the generations of determined lawmakers, activists, and organizers who carried that mission forward, We the Women reveals a powerful, often overlooked chapter of American history: the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
A century after the Nineteenth Amendment secured women the right to vote, these trailblazing women pushed further—demanding full constitutional equality. Their journey was anything but easy. First proposed in the aftermath of suffrage, the ERA took nearly fifty years for Congress to adopt in 1972, and decades more of relentless organizing to reach its final state ratification milestone in 2020 with Virginia. But even then, the battle was far from over. Through the voices of the bold women lawmakers and activists who authored, defended, and revived the ERA across generations, legal scholar Julie C. Suk uncovers a story of persistence against opposition, delay, and political resistance. These were women who refused to let equality remain unfinished.
And the stakes remain urgent. Despite progress, gender equality in America still falls short—especially for working mothers and women of color. We the Women brings these issues into sharp focus, showing how the ERA could reshape the future of constitutional rights by addressing issues like pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, and unequal pay. From the energy of the Women’s March to the global impact of #MeToo, a new wave of activism is rising. Women are winning elections, challenging systems of power, and reshaping the law itself.
The question now is not whether change is possible—but how far it will go.Inspiring, urgent, and deeply powerful, We the Women is the story of the “founding mothers” of the ERA—and the unfinished promise they left behind.
Details
- Paperback
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264 Pages
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Dimension: 8.3in x 5.5in x 0.8in
