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SCHLAFLY, PHYLLIS 1924-

ANTIFEMINIST

Backlash

Phyllis Schlafly represented the conservative and traditional American women in the 1970s who feared and rejected the liberal women's liberation movement. Dubbed the "Gloria Steinem of the Right," this Illinois activist organized the Stop ERA lobby in 1972. She argued that social changes were a threat to the family and traditional sex roles.

Congressional Candidate

Born in Saint Louis in 1924, Schlafly was educated at Washington University and Radcliffe College, worked briefly as a congressional aide, and married a wealthy Illinois lawyer in 1949. Although a self-described housewife and mother of six, she ran for Congress three times, wrote and published several books on conservative issues, worked as a radio commentator, and was editor of the Phyllis Schlafly Newsletter. As a campaigner for Joseph McCarthy and Barry Goldwater, she adopted an early and consistent anti-Communist position, and she even criticized President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for their conciliatory détente policy with the Soviet Union.

Stop ERA

Strongly influenced by her Catholic family and conservative husband, Schlafly was an effective conservative Republican spokesperson in the 1970s. By organizing and operating the Stop ERA lobby as well as the Eagle Forum, she aroused enough opposition to prevent ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. When Congress approved the amendment in 1972, it seemed to be very popular. But Schlafly's campaign, more than anything else, convinced voters and legislators it was a threat to American values. After the defeat of the ERA, Schlafly's Eagle Forum waged a national campaign against the women's liberation movement, whose leaders she called "femlib fanatics."