Us & Them: We The People [But Not So Much] Women

Many Americans assume the U.S. Constitution guarantees men and women equal rights. But the authors of the Constitution did not consider women as part of ‘We the people.’ 

In fact, the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment provides far fewer protections for gender as a protected category than it does for race, religion or national origin. 

In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay hears from author Jill Hasday, a law professor at the University of Minnesota whose new book “We the Men” lays out an unfinished agenda for women’s equality. 

Hasday says women are systematically forgotten in America’s most important stories about itself and there are important symbolic and emotional consequences from that exclusion. 

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation.

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“I have [America’s] 250th anniversary firmly on my calendar, and I believe it’s an important moment when people are truly listening. There will be many speeches asking, ‘What is America?’ and ‘What is American history?’ The centennial tells the story of how the founders established self-government, yet most Americans were denied self-government—and that omission must be part of our founding story. A hundred years later, Reagan essentially echoed the same sentiment. My hope for the nation’s 250th anniversary is that we tell the whole American story: both the founders’ tremendous achievements and the limitations that mean we are still working toward that promise. It’s not a sad story; it’s one of ongoing progress. We can all be part of that democratic project. It wasn’t completed in 1776—women, who make up half the population, deserve to be in those stories just as much as men.”

— Jill Elaine Hasday, author of We the Men: How Forgetting Women’s Struggles for Equality Perpetuates Inequality

“It took me a long time to be perfectly candid and to come up with a title. What I like about ‘We the Men’ is that our Constitution famously begins ‘we the people’—the best part of the document. From there, it goes downhill. The Constitution is supposed to speak for and empower the people to govern themselves, but in reality, everyone behind it has been a man. As my book’s subtitle suggests, women are systematically forgotten in America’s dominant narratives, which helps perpetuate their inequality. Sometimes even when people tell stories about women, they’re overlooked. How did women make progress? Men decided one day to hand it to them, instead of acknowledging that women—and male allies—had to fight enormous resistance. It wasn’t just spontaneous enlightenment; it’s also the forgetting that there’s still work to be done. People in 21st-century America have been saying that sex equality has been an issue since before the 19th Amendment ‘gave’ women the vote.”

— Jill Elaine Hasday, law professor at the University of Minnesota

— Jill Elaine Hasday reflects the legacy of Phyllis Schlafly:

On the Can-Do Attitude Argument:
“Her anti-feminist manifesto, The Power of the Positive Woman, argues that if you don’t have a can-do attitude, you won’t succeed—much like a Horatio Alger story. But the flip side is that failure is blamed solely on a lack of effort, even though many hardworking women who demonstrate relentless determination still miss out on opportunities.”

On Privilege and Empathy:
“Schlafly had an extraordinarily privileged position. She married a wealthy lawyer who shared her far-right views and financed her entire operation, enjoyed household help for her six children, and maintained a supportive, if unconventional, feminist marriage. Yet she seemed to have little empathy for women struggling in harsher circumstances.”

On Media Savvy and Debating Style:
“She was always impeccably groomed, with a beautiful posture and a perfectly styled suit—qualities that made her a master of television and debate. Her cool, collected demeanor in the face of ridiculous arguments could be both admirable and infuriating to her opponents.”

On the Obstacles to Women’s Success:
“One reason I mention Phyllis Schlafly so often in the book is that she sets the template for decades of anti-feminism that persist today. She argues that equality has been achieved—and yet claims that whatever feminists ask for would be disastrous. For example, anti-feminists testify before Congress that there are no obstacles to women’s success, even as they oppose paid leave. They ask, what prevents women from working full time? For many, the reality of childcare—a need for safe, quality care when you have three young children—remains a formidable barrier. You can’t simply bootstrap your way out of a baby needing constant attention.”

“I don’t think the current Congress is going to pass a statute recognizing the ERA, so I’m not holding my breath for the next two years. In my mind, there’s no deadline for Congress recognizing the ERA; as I said, the Supreme Court has never denied recognition to an amendment that Congress accepts.”

— Jill Elaine Hasday