the war of a conservative figure against feminists

In this miniseries broadcast by Canal +, Cate Blanchett plays Phyllis Schlafly, a convinced anti-feminist, who fought tooth and nail the evolution of women’s rights in the United States. Beyond the vintage side, it reminds us that the feminist fight is far from won.

Lacquered bun, pearl necklace and midi skirts, masterful Cate Blanchett embodies conservative figure Phyllis Schlafly in the miniseries Mrs America, broadcast by Canal + Séries and available on MyCanal. Died in 2016 at the age of 92, this anti-feminist went on a crusade in the 1970s against the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), adopted by Congress in 1972 and on the way to enshrining equal rights between sexes in the Constitution of the United States. A major revolution against discrimination. An abomination for this fervent Catholic, mother of six children, who saw in it the ruin of the traditional family and American values. Its STOP ERA movement, an impressive battalion of housewives, succeeded in hindering its final ratification: in 1982, the deadline imposed on the text, it was only approved by thirty-five states out of the thirty-eight necessary.

In nine thrilling episodes, Dahvi Waller (Mad Men, Halt and Catch Fire) traces this decade of struggle between the right of the American right and feminists of the second wave, in a chronicle as tastefully fictionalized as it is documented. Corn Mrs America may be enchanting vintage, with its seventies costume parade and rock and soul soundtrack, the fight it recounts is far from being a past story. In February 2017, thirty-five years after the missed deadline (and four months after the election of Donald Trump, inveterate misogynist), the amendment rose from its ashes, finally ratified by the State of Nevada, followed in 2018 by Illinois, stronghold of the Schlafly clan. Last January, Virginia became the thirty-eighth and final state to say yes to ERA. Victoire ? Not so fast. The battle is on again, and it will be legal. The “anti” deny the legality of these three recent ratifications, clinging to the 1982 deadline. Feminists are campaigning to blow it up, arguing that few amendments are subject to a deadline. In February, the House of Representatives agreed with them, but the future of the ERA remains more than uncertain. “The vote of the House, made up of a majority of Democrats, is not enough, explains feminist lawyer Gloria Allred. The other branch of Congress, the Senate, is dominated by Republicans, largely opposed to the ERA. So he would have to become a Democrat [sachant que la prochaine élection du Congrès est prévue en même temps que l’élection présidentielle, le 3 novembre 2020]. And even then, we don’t know if that would allow the deadline to be rescinded. We still have a long way to go… ”

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