Opposition by Rationality? March Madness, Women’s History and the Equal Rights Amendment

Stop the virtue signaling, stop saying what you support, because we’re looking at what you do, and you’re busted. NCAA March Madness, basketball players are in the bubble and the men’s facility compared to the women tells a sad story. The average home gym looks better than the women’s set up. The NCAA response, we’re going to ask for feedback. Uhm, ok. That’s nice; can you give us feedback from you as to why this set up was deemed adequate for athletes to train? One headline said it was budget. The players were told it was a space issue.

But wait, there is more. A cheaper testing protocol is used for women that NCAA officials said was “just as good” as the one used for the men. The food, women get prepackaged meals and men get a buffet. Is this really unbelievable or business as usual? This is March Madness 2021and women’s history month. March 24th of this week was the symbolic equal pay day that represents the 83 additional days women need to work to make the same amount as a white man doing the same job.

2021 Equal Pay Days

Asian American and Pacific Islander Women’s Equal Pay Day is March 9. Asian American and Pacific Islander women are paid 85 cents for every dollar paid to white men.

All Women’s Equal Pay Day is March 24. Women working full time and year round are paid 82 cents for every dollar paid to a man who works full time and year round.

Black Women’s Equal Pay Day is August 3. Black women are paid 63 cents for every dollar paid to white men.

Native American Women’s Equal Pay Day is September 8. Native women are paid 60 cents for every dollar paid to white men.

Latina’s Equal Pay Day is October 21. Latinas are paid 55 cents for every dollar paid to white men.

Equal Pay Day Calendar

The Equal Rights Amendment states “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” It seems crazy that this isn’t already law. Yet, Equal Rights Amendment has been languishing since 1972.

The Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress on March 22, 1972 and sent to the states for ratification. In order to be added to the Constitution, it needed approval by legislatures in three-fourths (38) of the 50 states.

By 1977, the legislatures of 35 states had approved the amendment. In 1978, Congress voted to extend the original March 1979 deadline to June 30, 1982. However, no additional states voted yes before that date, and the ERA fell three states short of ratification.

The 15 states that did not ratify the Equal Rights Amendment before the 1982 deadline were Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia.

On March 22, 2017, 45 years to the day after Congress passed the ERA, Nevada became the 36th state to ratify it. On May 30, 2018, Illinois became the 37th state. And, in a historic vote to become the 38th state to ratify, the state of Virginia voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment on January 15, 2020.

A brief history of ratification in the states

On March 17, 2021, the House passed a resolution with 224 to 204 votes on Wednesday to remove the deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (weeks after a federal judge ruled that time had run out.) Now it’s in the purview of the Senate. But it’s messy. Some senators have said it is unconstitutional to remove a deadline for ratification and 5 states, Nebraska, Tennessee, Idaho, Kentucky and North Dakota voted to rescind their ratification with claims their ratification expired in 1979.

A couple of my friends highlighted equal pay for women the same does not mean men will get paid less. Two people doing the same work will be paid equally. Men, you will not lose money. That’s only fair. There is not a price for women and a price for men; so, we should be paid the same for the same work. Sure, this discussion may be exhausting, but think about women, we’re exhausted to work just as hard to get paid less, year, after year.

NCAA advocates attributes the disparity in treatment is related to the revenue men’s basketball brings in. That’s rationale versus the stark reality. The equipment for the women can be purchased for less than $400 from Amazon and with gym closures, it seems reasonable that there are a variety of alternatives that could have been used if the needs of the women were considered. While opposition to ERA by both Senators and States are based on the inability to extend a deadline it presents as a ruse to avoid saying women are not equal to men and will not be given equal protection under the constitution. This week consider, rationale versus opposition and the impact on equality and fairness.