Testimony for the Equal Rights Amendment (1970)¶

Author: Gloria Steinem Type: Primary Source · Congressional Testimony (public record) Source: U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments, Hearings on the Equal Rights Amendment, 91st Cong., 2nd sess., May 6, 1970. Read the text via Voices of Democracy (Univ. of Maryland) or the American Yawp Reader. Era/Period: US History — Unit 6 (Civil Rights) & Unit 8 (1970s–1980s) US Standards: US.6_12.5 · US.6_12.2 · US.6_12.4 · US.6_12.6

Read It¶

Copyright

Unlike the Goldman and Wollstonecraft texts, Gloria Steinem's work is still under copyright. This entry summarizes her testimony and quotes only brief passages for analysis (fair use). Read the full text at the linked sources above — do not reproduce it in full.

Steinem opened her testimony by introducing herself plainly — "My name is Gloria Steinem. I am a writer and editor…" — and stated that she was there in support of the Equal Rights Amendment. She then organized her argument around a set of myths she said had been used for generations to justify treating women unequally: chiefly, the myth that women are biologically inferior to men, and the myth that women are already treated as equals and so need no further protection. Her core claim, in her words, was that "all our problems stem from the same sex-based myths" — false beliefs that had been written into law the same way racial myths once were.

From there she argued that the law should treat people as individuals, not as members of a group defined at birth; that women, though a majority of the population, lacked the legal protections extended to other groups; and that the concerns women shared cut across lines of class and race. She warned that women "won't be silent anymore," framing the ERA as part of a transformation comparable to the civil-rights movement.

What This Text Is About¶

Gloria Steinem at a news conference, 1972 Gloria Steinem in 1972, two years after this testimony and the year she co-founded Ms. magazine. Photo: Library of Congress; public domain.

On May 6, 1970, Gloria Steinem — journalist, co-founder of Ms. magazine, and a leading voice of "second-wave" feminism — testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee in support of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), a proposed constitutional amendment stating that equality of rights "shall not be denied or abridged … on account of sex." Where Emma Goldman fought from outside the system — breaking laws, refusing the state's authority — Steinem worked inside it: testifying to the Senate, building a mass-circulation magazine, organizing within the political process to change the Constitution itself. Her testimony is a model of institutional reform strategy, and it is the natural modern counterpart to Goldman's radicalism. (The ERA passed Congress in 1972 but fell short of ratification by the states — itself a lesson in how reform can win the argument and still not become law.)

ELA Standards This Connects To¶

R.9 — Steinem structures her whole case around dismantling "myths." Students analyze how naming an opponent's belief as a myth reframes the debate before she argues a single fact.
R.7 — Her explicit comparison of sex-based myths to racial myths is a deliberate rhetorical move for a 1970 Senate audience that had just lived through the civil-rights era. Analyze why she reaches for that specific analogy.
W.4 — Argument writing: "Should the law treat people as individuals or account for the group disadvantages they're born into? Use Steinem's testimony as evidence."

US.6_12.5 — Steinem is a defining figure of 1970s reform. Students analyze her contribution and the influence of the ERA fight on the era.
US.6_12.2 — The ERA produced fierce disagreement among women (Steinem's supporters vs. opponents like Phyllis Schlafly). Reading Steinem is an invitation to examine multiple perspectives, not a single "women's position."
US.6_12.4 — Set beside Goldman (1906/1916), Steinem lets students compare how the women's movement changed over time — from outside-the-system radicalism to inside-the-system constitutional reform.
US.6_12.6 — The ERA was reintroduced for decades and remains debated; students connect Steinem's 1970 argument directly to present-day politics.

Key Vocabulary¶

Term	Definition
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)	A proposed constitutional amendment barring the denial of rights "on account of sex"; passed Congress 1972, never fully ratified
Second-wave feminism	The women's movement of roughly the 1960s–1980s, focused on workplace, legal, family, and reproductive equality
Ratification	The process by which the required number of states must approve a constitutional amendment for it to take effect
Myth (rhetorical)	A widely believed but false idea; Steinem uses the word to reframe common beliefs about women as errors to be corrected
Institutional reform	Changing a system by working within its official channels — courts, legislatures, elections, the press

Key Passage¶

"…all our problems stem from the same sex-based myths." — Gloria Steinem, Senate ERA testimony, May 6, 1970

This single sentence is the spine of the testimony: rather than argue dozens of separate injustices one at a time, Steinem traces them all to a common root — false beliefs about what women are. Students can test that move: is it a powerful unifying insight, or does it flatten real differences among women's situations? Comparing this "one root cause" strategy to Goldman's is a rich analytical task.

Studio Ideas¶

"Inside the System" — EQ: When you want a right the system won't grant, is it stronger to work inside it or refuse it? · Standard: US.6_12.4 + Units 1 & 8 · Demo Mode: Extended Writing (compare Steinem's institutional strategy with Goldman's radicalism)
"Myth as Strategy" — EQ: How does naming a belief a "myth" change an argument before it begins? · Standard: US.6_12.2 + Unit 8 · Demo Mode: Written Assessment (rhetorical analysis of the testimony, R.9)
"Won the Argument, Lost the Vote" — EQ: Why did the ERA pass Congress and still fail to become law — and what does that reveal about how reform works? · Standard: US.6_12.6 + Unit 8 · Demo Mode: Multimedia/Verbal (trace the ERA from 1970 to today, presenting multiple perspectives fairly)

Why This Is Relevant Today?¶

Steinem's testimony is a live wire in American politics because the amendment she argued for is still not settled — the ERA has been reintroduced, re-debated, and re-litigated for more than fifty years, which makes her 1970 words a direct on-ramp to current events (US.6_12.6). But the deeper reason to study it is the argument itself: should the law be "blind" and treat everyone identically as individuals, or should it account for the group-based disadvantages people are born into? That question did not end with the ERA. It runs straight through present-day debates about equality, discrimination, and the proper reach of the law. Reading Steinem well means being able to state her argument fairly, notice where opponents like Phyllis Schlafly pushed back and why, and reach your own evidence-based conclusion — the core skill of an informed citizen.