The fight for equality is never easy, and sometimes it is not even fair. If you are asking yourself “how can equality not be fair?” then I have a show on Hulu for you.
Mrs. America, a mini-series produced by Fox in 2019, follows the leaders of the second wave feminist movement as they fought to eradicate sex discrimination through the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. This fight in the 1970’s united feminists across the nation and generated an enormous amount of momentum, so much so that the faces of the movement were raised to celebrity status. The show focuses on those women: Gloria Steinem, Betty Freidan, Bella Abzug, and Shirley Chisholm.
Three of the four are cis-white females, which has an impact on their priorities within the movement. Mrs. America works to highlight those priorities and demonstrate the flaws within the movement, notably that those agendas did not address problems that plagued minority women. Mrs. America, through diverse representation and significant interactions, develops an intersectional critique of the second wave feminist movement.
The goal of second wave feminism was ensuring that all women would be equal to men, not just in theory, but in the eyes of the law. In order to eradicate sex discrimination, they created and petitioned for the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA was passed through Congress in 1972 and then sent out the states to be ratified. The show follows the journey of the faces of the movement as they try to get it passed in 38 states.
The ERA is significant because it ensures equality for all women. An intersectional critique points out that not all women are equal to begin with. Intersectionality is “the theory that the overlap of various social identities, as race, gender, sexuality, and class, contributes to the specific type of systemic oppression and discrimination experienced by an individual”.
For instance, a black woman is always aware of how her gender and race create different obstacles, but collide at this intersection to make the same difficult path. This is true for other women of color, queer women, and women of different classees. White women will not have that same awareness of identity and as a result we see in the show how early white feminists failed to recognize two pillars of intersectionality: race and sexuality.
The effects of intersectional discrimination are most blatant with Shirley Chisholm’s run for presidency in 1972. She was the first African American woman to run for presidency under a major party and while this got her a lot of attention, she could not secure real support. She was accomplished and experienced, but unfortunately many people could not see beyond her physical identity. One scene shows her talking with a male representative of the Congressional Black Caucus. He tells Shirley that they are going to back McGovern, another Democratic candidate, because they see her as the candidate for women, not for African Americans.
She responds “do I not look black to you?” (Episode 3, 10:30). To solidify her point she asks “does this make me look black?” and shows him death threats she has received that contain vulgar language, like the n-word. Even after this significant conversation, the CBC backs McGovern. Without their support and without the support of the National Women’s Political Caucus (run by Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug) Chisholm drops out, and the hope of a Black women president withers away. A missed opportunity to be sure.
Mrs. America introduces us to Midge Constanza and Jean O’Leary, closeted lesbians who advocated for gay rights, to show the struggles that queer women faced within the movement. We see this struggle clearly when Midge, Jean, Bella, Gloria, and others are sitting at a table making decisions for the Houston conference (Episode 7, 9:46). This conference was held in honor of International Women’s Year (1975) and it mimicked a political party convention, except Houston was bipartisan and the issues discussed were all concerning women.
In the scene, Bella Abzug says she wants to appoint Betty Friedan to be a delegate, but Jean pushes back because “if Betty is on that stage it will send the message that we are not welcome.” (Episode 7, 10:08). Jean is alluding to the fact that Betty referred to lesbians as the “lavender menace” in the past. She had a real impact on keeping queer women from the movement. This scene paints a negative light on Betty, but she is redeemed in the Houston episode because she stands up and says, “I do believe we must help the women who are lesbians to be protected in their own civil rights” (Episode 9, 43:53). This wording is significant. They are not just women and they are not just lesbians. They are both, and neither part of their identity should keep them from being equal. This development proves that the movement was capable of more inclusivity, but it should not have taken so much persuasion and time.
Why is this show important today? New age feminism is inherently intersectional, which is what can make it so confusing. Mrs. America documents the shift in the feminist movement that occurred when white feminists were not extending their power to minority women, leading minority women to make their own power. Modern feminism still encapsulates all women, but often each minority group now campaigns for their own issues. This includes African American women, queer women, Latina women, etc. While each branch can still come together on unifying issues, like #MeToo, this new wave looks much different than it did in the 70’s. Ultimately, Mrs. America’s intersectional critique helps us understand the events that led up to why modern feminism looks the way it does.
Note: if you want to find out why the ERA was not ratified into the US Constitution, give the mini-series a watch. I will give you a teaser, it was not men that stopped it.