WaPo: Is this what an anti-feminist movement looks like?

[CTyankee]

3. I have pondered this for many, many years. I saw the ERA fail back in the early 80s and I

could not believe it. But there were two major "reasons" that have been cited: fear of drafting our daughters and the idea that the 14th amendment was all that was needed to take care of sexist laws and institutions (here I will remind folks that the 14th amendment was tried in the effort to secure women's right to vote, but the 19th amendment was needed).

I became more active in the pro-choice movement and worked/marched right along other self proclaimed feminists. We were in a bubble. We thought all we needed to do is get the word out to other women and they'd immediately join our ranks.

Then I began hearing "I'm all for women's rights but..." statements and the complaints that feminists were too angry (and possibly too scary) from women who I assumed were too dependent on their husbands to make any "trouble." Boy, that was depressing...

But I have now put this in perspective: things ARE much better for women in this country today. And it was because of feminists. I feel positive for my granddaughters prospects because so many more women are aware of and comfortable with feminism, at least compared with what some women were feeling back 30 years ago.

We're not done, of course. Vigilance is still needed. Nobody can be smug. But we have a LOT more allies on our side.