Recently in PLP, our grading/workload shifted once again, and now we have three new baseline assignments that we need to complete before the end of GRADE 12 HISTORY! This post is all about one of those assignments, a concept called Facilitation Friday which is basically where each of us researches a topic discussed in class. We then are to present a background of the history, and instigate a class fish-bowl discussion based off of inquiry questions we created to share. I used Keynote as my form of visuals, and used many photos while I spoke to successfully et my point across.
This last week in class, we talked about Women and Equality Rights as a part of a growing empowerment movement in the 60’s and 70’s. This is the topic I chose for my Facilitation Friday. I found interest in the fight for equality and the ideologies of the 70’s, being conservative traditional views vs. new age activists. I wanted to know more about the struggle, and be able to at least attempt to put myself in the shoes of the insanely strong and powerful women of the time, who ended up starting the movement that has continued up until now, and most definitely in the future.
Women were feeling very unfulfilled simply looking after the house, feeding the children, and being treated like they were incapable and inferior to men. Despite making up more than half the American population, women were not admitted to colleges at the same rate as men or allowed equal pay or job opportunities. They were suffering through a silent struggle, alone and unhappy. But as these feelings began to spread and voices began to be heard, we saw these concerns become a whole movement to improve and implement equality and anti-discrimination laws.
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which states that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex,” was originally introduced to Congress in 1923 — three years after women gained the right to vote – – yet was never passed by Congress.
The National Organization for Women, which was founded in 1966 and advocated for a “fully equal partnership of the sexes,” soon expressed their support of the ERA and made it a priority of the movement to pass the Amendment. As the feminist wave swept across the country, the support for ERA picked up even more steam. It seemed like there was going to be equal rights for the sexes, until the advancements hit a bump in the road.
Meet Phyllis Schlafly, a staunch conservative woman, with firm beliefs that the ERA was the worst thing to happen to women ever. Schlafly began speaking to the all the white, privileged women who felt that the feminist movement was not for them — women who enjoyed their roles as mothers and housewives, or simply were used to traditional ideals between being a woman or a man. She rallied together anti-ERA women, and instilled to them that the amendment would strip away any protections that women had, like child support and exemption from military drafts.
As Phyllis Schlafly resisted against the movement, the ERA was only three state votes away from being passed, and in order to band together feminists and activists of the nation, the National Women’s Conference was formed. This was a giant protest and activist rally, to let the world know that women were going to fight the system in order to see a change towards their eduction, job opportunities, and rights to control their own bodies.
After the National Women’s conference, many women left feeling empowered and that they had made large advancements for the movement, but this momentum did not lead to more votes for the ERA. The amendment did not go through, and is still not passed even today.
This struggle for equal rights has continued through the decades, and still continues today in our own lives as we see examples such as the countless women’s marches taking place across the world, or the Time’s Up Movement standing up for women and their right to protect their bodies from people who have no right to be there.
After I talked about the history of my topic, and explained why it was a significant event of our history in the western world, I then began a discussion with the class. I was supposed to ask at least three questions for us to ponder as a group, but because of shortages of time, I only got to ask two out of the three.
My original questions were:
- How was this movement a success, despite the ERA never being passed in congress? Why was it a significant piece of our past present, and future?
- Do we see similar figures to Phyllis Schlafly in politics today? Are they similar in their manipulative natures and appeal to certain groups of people?
- Without the movement for Equal Rights for the Sexes, how do you think society would be different? Would we be living like the 50’s housewives, or do you think a movement or revolution would have been inevitable whether it was in the 70’s, 90’s or today? Why or why not?
I enjoyed curating these questions, not only for the class, but for myself to think about as well.
The movement, although not achieving what was set out to achieve, was a large building block in the fight for equal rights of genders. The women of the 60’s and 70’s questioned the government and it’s values, and demanded a change for the betterment of society. They faced opposition that argued that “their lives were perfectly fine and didn’t need to be changed”, but the activists knew that fear was what was driving their movement to a stop. Regardless of whether the ERA was passed in congress or not, it taught women, or any minority, that they have a voice and that if they want to see change in the world, they have to stand up and face the oppression. Unfortunately the ERA has yet to be accepted as an amendment in the United States, but the feminist movement has arisen, and I do not doubt it will be a success for women soon enough.
So, how did my presentation go?
On the day I was scheduled to have my presentation, there were also four of my classmates presenting their own Facilitation Friday topics. Now that may sound like a lot, but our teachers had already established that each presentation is only supposed to last 15 minutes, so we would have plenty of time to get through everyone’s. At least I thought….
By the time it was my turn (at the end), I had 8 minutes to give my 15 minute presentation, and to say the least, I was a bit disappointed. I had worked very hard to understand and feel confident with my topic, and had prepared my notes and presentation to fit the original timeline perfectly. So getting up to present with basically all of the allotted timeline used up was plainly disappointing. Regardless, I swiftly and promptly altered my notes to fit the time I had been given, and I am very proud of the presentation I gave. I think I spoke clearly and informatively, and know that I was very familiar with the topic and felt passion for what I was talking about. I lead the discussion well, and knew exactly which questions I would ask to prompt a good conversation, even in the quick time. Not only was I proud of my work in my own presentation, but I felt I did well contributing to others’ discussions. I felt I could share my thoughts and opinions, and made some good connections to outside sources.
With all of this said, I was expecting a relatively good mark, as I had done the best I could do, and I felt great about the quality of my work. When I received my feedback, it was all positive, but I was left wondering why a received an At Standard. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not fishing for a better mark because I feel entitled or absolutely deserving, because I’m okay with the mark I received. I would just like to better understand the differentiation between an At Standard mark and an Above Standard. This difference seems to be a bit of a grey area to me; If I am missing out on a higher mark I would be interested to know why.
Anyways, to conclude, although I was unsure of this assignment when it was introduced, I was overall very happy with the effort I put into the work, and was proud of the final product. I think the presentation and discussion left the class with ideas and topics to think about and ponder for themselves, which means that my job was a success!
