The State of Women on Our Country’s 250th Birthday

It is hard for women to out-run or out-vote the anti-democratic maneuvers facilitated by this court and this administration.

When the United States celebrated the bicentennial in 1976, the national mood was far from one of unity. The country was roiled in the aftermath of an unpopular war, the scandal of Watergate, and a series of political assassinations. The Black power, civil rights, and second wave feminism movements were increasingly popular and powerful. And yet, somehow it all seems quaint as the United States prepares to mark its 250th birthday. Among the questions looming over the commemoration are what it means to now be in a well-documented state of democratic decline — and what it will take to get back on track with the great American experiment.

Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

In the face of a political administration and congressional and Supreme Court majorities hellbent on whitewashing history, the 250th is an important inflection point and opportunity to interrogate whose America gets remembered. It is also an exercise that entails bringing a feminist lens — because in every way, democracy has always been a feminist enterprise.

That said, well before the United States was designated a backsliding democracy — and over the course of the century after women won the right to vote — it is clear we have never succeeded in adequately representing and reflecting women. This, despite the reality that women are more than half the population and participate voraciously in civic life, registering and voting at higher rates than men in every presidential election since 1980. Black women in this country turn out at the polls and for voter mobilization efforts in even greater numbers.

Back in 1972, on the precipice of the bicentennial, Gloria Steinem wrote for the then newly launched Ms. magazine, “Black women come out stronger on just about every feminist issue, whether it is voting for a woman candidate, ending violence and militarism, or believing that women are just as rational as men and have more human values.” The same article by Steinem predicted, “We’ve been delivering our votes [and] now women want something in return. Nineteen seventy-two is just the beginning….”

In many ways, it was. That year, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) handily passed the U.S. Senate and seemed destined for swift ratification. Shirley Chisolm’s early career in public service — as the first Black female member of Congress, followed by her groundbreaking 1972 presidential campaign — altered the discourse about whether “white male only” remained a qualifier to lead the nation. And by January 1973, the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, affirming a constitutional right to abortion.

Now, as we approach the semi-quincentennial, the U.S. remains far from achieving anything close to full representative governance, certainly as compared with women’s actual population footprint; our rates of women in leadership, while rising incrementally, continue to fall short of those of peer democracies throughout the world. The ERA, ever vital, is still unfinished business. And, after being the law of the land for nearly 50 years, Roe was overturned by the Supreme Court four years ago.

The very text of the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization crudely and cruelly distorts the tenets of free and fair democracy, starting with its direct target: denial of reproductive liberty and bodily autonomy. Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the majority opinion, had the gall and hypocrisy to call out women’s political advancement as the antidote to the court’s reversal of a fundamental right, writing: “Women are not without electoral or political power. It is noteworthy that the percentage of women who register to vote and cast ballots is consistently higher than the percentage of men who do so.”

Please. It is damn hard for women — or anyone! — to out-run or out-vote the avalanche of anti-democratic maneuvers facilitated by this court itself, with gerrymandering and voter suppression top of list. And members of the current political administration gleefully align publicly with those who advocate for repeal of the 19th Amendment — a goal that is picking up traction on the right. Just take a look at the footage of Turning Point USA’s recent conference and the young women who support “household voting,” relinquishing their own votes and voices.

Degradation of our democratic systems is precisely why decidedly anti-feminist policy outcomes persist — like this country’s inability to address sky-high maternal mortality rates, advance national universal childcare, and pass common-sense gun safety measures. It is certainly why 41 states now have some form of abortion ban in place, despite public polling in favor of abortion rights reaching record highs.

In the countdown to July 4, I’ve been proud to contribute to the discourse by co-producing a series called Feminist 250 at Ms. Magazine. In Democracy’s Feminist Future, today’s installment, top thought leaders debut their game-changing ideas and next generation of reforms to catalyze a better and more feminist future.

Among the first round of contributors are people familiar to Contrarians:

• LaTosha Brown of Black Voters Matter wrote a piece that envisions and maps out a new federal Department of Democracy, “a durable, people-powered, enforcement-capable institution designed to protect voting and civic rights, monitor the conduct of all three branches of government, hold states accountable, and serve as a permanent firewall against the erosion of democratic participation.”

• Skye Perryman of Democracy Forward points to the urgent need for court reform, putting forth a slate of wholly achievable proposals.

• Moms First’s Reshma Saujani makes the case that supporting parents is at the heart of a functioning democracy, and Inimai Chettiar of A Better Balance champions bold paid leave policies.

• Fordham Law professor Julie Suk explains how constitutional equality, the ERA in particular, is at the heart of individual liberty and democratic institutions.

These ideas and reforms are just the tip of the iceberg, as new essays will be rolled out all summer. Please check out the full three-part series, which includes America’s Founding Feminists, featuring essays and commentary that bring a distinct historical lens to the founding ideas of American democracy; and Feminist Lessons, which explores modern movements over the past 50 years and their foundational work to secure legal, economic and social equality.

The entire series offers an essential antidote to President Trump’s UFC Fight-branded, white nationalist-drenched version of the monumental milestone that is 250 years — and makes clear that the fight for robust democracy is, at its core, a central and urgent feminist goal.

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf is executive director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at NYU School of Law. She also leads strategy and partnerships at Ms. Magazine.

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