Miss America

If you have Hulu, you might want to check out the TV show, titled "Miss America", which accurately portrays the sweetheart of the silent majority. This tells the story of the movement to ratify the ERA during the second wave of feminism and the backlash led by Phyllis Schlafly. With Schlafly at the lead, the group argued that the ERA would rescind what they deemed to be freedoms and protections for women under the current law and questioned why they should have equality when they were in a "superior" position. Early in the show, Mrs. America illustrates how STOP ERA began to gain traction with the group swaying politicians with bread and pies. in Episode 2, we see Schlafly and her legion of anti-ERA women flock to the lobby of the Illinois General Assembly to hand out homemade bread and jam with the slogan of “Preserve Us From a Congressional Jam." The group emphasized that the protection of the freedom to be a housewife and remain unconcerned with the stress of breadwinning, along with the assurance that women wouldn’t be drafted for the armed services.

Despite being a self-proclaimed "proud homemaker", Schlafly was actually an aspiring politician and activist. She was a captivating figure for the religious right being anti-abortion and anti-ERA, but it must be recognized though that she was also anti-facts, using conjecture, insinuation, and leaps of logic to gain political favor, exaggerate fearmongering, and gaslight potential groupies. Ironically, Schlafly had worked as “a ballistics gunner and technician at the largest ammunition plant in the world” during WW2. She also remained an active political voice on the Cold War and national defense throughout her life. Additionally, she ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1952 and again in 1970 (despite losing both times), with her husband asking her not to run again.  According to her obituary in the New York Times, “Mrs. Schlafly hardly noticed the Equal Rights Amendment when it was first debated in Congress” and it wasn’t until 1971, when the amendment had already passed the House, that she took up arms against it, founding STOP ERA and appointing herself the chairwoman.

What makes this show so unique is that it does not just track Phyllis Schlafly but rather a multitude of people that were involved with or affected by the second wave of feminism. The show describes how the charismatic Steinem quickly became the spokeswoman for the women’s liberation movement, along with her rival Betty Friedan, who famously called Abzug and Steinem “female chauvinist boors” in 1972. It also describes how women of color carved out a place in the women's rights movement by dedicating an episode to “Shirley” Chisholm, an extraordinary civil rights leader and the first black woman ever elected to Congress. Overall, if you're looking for something to watch during quarantine I'd say you should definitely check it out.