Schlafly's success can actually be attributed to feminism in some ways. She pursued a rigorous education, one made possible by an earlier wave of feminism that demanded higher education for women. Schlafly was the valedictorian of her high school class and received a scholarship to Maryville College of the Sacred Heart, only to transfer to Washington University St. Louis because the program was not challenging enough. There she worked a night shift at a munitions factory in order to pay for her tuition. Schlafly ended up with a bachelor's degree in political science and master's degree in government from Radcliffe College.Schlafly had limited success in her political career until she began her STOP ERA lobbying organization. She ran for Congress in 1952, campaigning as an "average housewife" with a huge anti-communist platform. She won the republican primary but lost the general election because her district was largely democratic. She ran again two more times, but both were unsuccessful. She struggled to create a name for herself while focusing on anti-communist foreign policy, possibly due to her gender. However, she did serve as a delegate at republican national conventions multiple times and helped Barry Goldwater win the Republican presidential nomination in 1964 with her book A Choice Not an Echo. In it she accused wealthy, eastern elites of controlling presidential nominating conventions. The feminist movement, on the other hand, would open up a new political path for Schlafly that would gain her much more following.
Schlafly shared the concern of many American women that the ERA would take away their "right to be a housewife." She argued that it would abolish all the "privileges" and "exemptions" that women enjoy. For example, woman were not obligated to support their families economically (she claimed that men were "required" to provide for their wives and families) nor could they be drafted into the army. Schlalfy created well-organized campaigns that targeted religious woman and anti-feminists. Her weekly newsletter, the Phyllis Schlafly Report, helped mobilize her supporters on certain issues. She furthered her organization to attack gay rights, pornography and abortion rights, and contributed to a newspaper column, weekly radio show and made many television appearances.It's interesting that Schlafly valued receiving an education and pursuing her career so much, yet created a movement that idealized a woman's role as a housewife. Her actions seem to contradict the whole point of her movement. She took advantage of the opportunities given to her, created a name for herself, and still argued that it women shouldn't have the right to choose their own paths in life.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Phyllis-Schlafly
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/phyllis-schlafly-death-housewife-activism-feminism-214213
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Schlafly
You blog gave a lot of information about Phyllis Schlafly in addition to theft that she is often credited as being the woman who single handily destroyed the ERA. I was curious as to what exactly Scholarly write in her book A Choice Not an Echo that made it and Barry Goldwater's campaign so popular. It turns out that the contents of this book are mainly centered around Schlafly's disapproval of the influence of Kingmakers, those individuals or groups who hold substantial influence over political elections through the use of money, religion, politics, or sometimes even brute military force. She traces through the two presidential election attempts made by Robert Taft (the son of President William Howard Taft) in 1940 and 1952, both of which resulted in predetermined outcomes due to the political influence of such kingmakers. In Goldwater's campaign specifically, Schalfly focuses on exposing the kingmakers who are working against him, calling out "the chief propaganda organ of the secret kingmakers, The New York Times." Such a statement also underscored the tensions and disapproval Schlafly had for eastern establishments that in her opinion "dictated Republican nominations."
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https://www.britannica.com/biography/Phyllis-Schlafly#ref1115400
I loved reading your post about Phyllis Schlafly as it was very well researched and thought-out. She not only destroyed the ERA as you said, but also had a profound impact on Reagan's domestic policies in other ways, such as his attempt to to end legal abortion through his “gag rule” which blocked U.S. federal funding for non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling or referrals, advocate to decriminalize abortion, or expand abortion services. This was a direct response to the growth of conservative anti-feminism under Schlafly in the ‘80s in which “liberate us from the liberators” became a rallying cry. As mentioned, they opposed feminism on the grounds that it would discredit the role of women as the homemaker. Schlafly stated: “American women never had it so good. Why should we lower ourselves to ‘equal rights’ when we already have the status of special privilege?"
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