Mrs America, not forgetting Ms and Miss

I’ve been watching a fantastic programme on iPlayer. Starring Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Tracey Ullmann, Sarah Paulson, Jeanne Trippelhorn, Uzo Aduba, Elizabeth Banks, Margo Martindale, Kayli Carter and Ari Graynor, "Mrs America" opened my eyes to a period of history I knew shamefully little about.

In 1971, the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) was reintroduced to Congress to be ratified. It sought to amend the United States Constitution to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. And it was going through, being ratified by state after state. That’s until a woman called Phyllis Schlafly stepped in and started a campaign to halt the ERA in its tracks.

I’d never heard of Phyllis Schlafly. Brilliantly portrayed by Cate Blanchett in “Mrs America”, she’s a clever, articulate Republican who is violently anti feminism, communism and women’s rights. What differentiates her from other right-wing housewives is that she has a steely-eyed determination to stop the ERA and mobilise her fellow homemakers in order to do so. Schlafly calls herself a housewife, but in fact she’s no such thing. Married to a rich lawyer husband, her unmarried sister and her staff keep the house running and the children looked after, giving her time to go out on the campaign trail and run her STOP ERA campaign. What makes Phyllis stand out is her charisma, her cleverness, her ease with an off-the-cuff quip and her ever-growing mailing list. Years before Mail Chimp was even a twinkle in its inventor’s eye, Mrs Schlafly had all the names and addresses she needed neatly filed in her card index system.

Opposing the Far Right was a group of women linked by their views on equal rights for women, regardless of their colour or sexuality. These Left-Wing Libbers horrified Phyllis Schlafly and her army of homemakers. “Mrs America” tells the story of how the second-wave feminists came up against the Right and history was changed as a result. And most certainly not for the better.

In the early Seventies, Gloria Steinem was publishing, “Ms Magazine”, a feminist publication, Betty Friedan was on stages across America talking about the views expressed in her bestseller, “The Feminine Mystique” and Shirley Chisholm was campaigning to become America’s first black woman president. Change was in the air. How could the ERA fail? And yet we see it do just that, as the nine episodes unfold. Mobilising women across the country, Phyllis Schlafly succeeds in overturning the proposed amendment. She wins the battle, but the war is still being fought.

Men don’t come out too well in, “Mrs America.” There’s the odd supportive husband, but on the whole, they’re portrayed as sexist and entitled, smoking in their offices and groping their secretaries. Politics is a dirty business as both sides find out to their cost.

I loved this series. The casting is spot-on, the writers never fall into the trap of demonising anyone and the acting, music and costumes are superb. I learned a great deal and realised that not that much has changed. Women are speaking out and being listened to more in the USA, but racism, sexism and discrimination are still rife.

The ERA remains an un-passed piece of legislation, even now. The United States of America does not have it enshrined in its Constitution. I was horrified when I found this out, but not surprised. In a country where the President can use sexist, misogynistic language, treat women as playthings and survive sex scandal after sex scandal, why would they need the ERA?

I would recommend that you watch, “Mrs America.” It’s sparkling, funny, truthful and thought-provoking. It’s written by, directed by and stars mostly women. As we sit here, halfway through 2020, programmes of this quality making the points it makes, are rare creatures. As the final episode came to an end, I was left feeling angry, an emotion which didn’t leave me for several days. This is intelligent television, doing what it should do, which is to make us think and question.

I loved it. I was sorry when it was over. Let me know what you think.