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Situated within the larger scholarship on the women's liberation movement of the 1970s exists a body of literature that analyzes the rhetorical functions of pro- and anti- Equal Rights Amendment messages in relation to communication studies. Although limited in scope, this literature acknowledges the tremendous impact of Phyllis Schlafly's STOP ERA campaign in the prevention of the ratification and unratification of states. However, with the exception of a few theses and dissertations, a lion's share of published articles proclaim the STOP ERA and Schlafly herself to be predominantly negative and serve solely as prevailing threats to the women's movement. As a result, heterogeneous scholarship grounded in communication theory proves limited when applied to critical rhetorical analyses of anti-feminist rhetoric. Using Kenneth Burke's frames of acceptance and rejection as a perspective for rhetorical criticism, this thesis demonstrates how Schlafly's conservative ideals functioned rhetorically through acceptance-based frames in the past, and through rejection-based frames after the failed ERA ratification in 1982. In doing so, I provide today's scholars with an important body of knowledge to further examine the ERA debate and its influence on contemporary feminism. Until rhetoric is fully explored within the cultural and historical conditions distinctive to Schlafly's main speeches during the ERA debate, meaningful debate about the women's movement and feminism's current state is subject to remain truncated. / Master of Arts

Although previous scholars have addressed the legislative parameters of the Equal Rights Amendment debate in non-ratifying states, analysis of amendment supporters’ rhetoric has been limited. Examining the public and private writings of activists, This thesis presents the argument that pro-ERA coalitions in Georgia addressed the concerns of their opponents and developed rhetoric that deemphasized connections to the radical women’s liberation movement and argued that the ERA would enact legal, rather than social, change. While the educational materials produced by pro-ERA coalitions presented a logical analysis of the amendment’s legal ramifications, the personal discourse of Georgia activists presented an emotional defense of the amendment that has often been overlooked in previous studies.

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Doctor of Philosophy / Department of History / Sue Zschoche / Despite an impressive history of woman-friendly legislation, Kansans tend to be socially conservative. The Equal Rights Amendment, first proposed in 1923, was the culmination of over a century's worth of women's activism attempting to remove the strictures of coverture and to recognize women as citizens in their own right, not as wives or as mothers of male citizens. After largely ignoring the amendment for fifty years, Congress finally passed the ERA in 1972 and submitted it to the states for ratification. Almost immediately, the real and imagined consequences of the legislation provoked a passionate debate among mostly middle-class white women about the meaning of American womanhood. Liberals hoped that the ERA would remove existing barriers to women's educational and professional life; conservatives feared that the ERA would cause women to focus on selfish interests outside of their households, rotting the foundations of family life and American strength. In Kansas, women from both camps converged to discuss the future of the ERA at the feminist-organized Kansas Women's Weekend of July 15-17, 1977, resulting in Kansas sending a conservative faction to the federally funded National Women's Conference later that year. Conservatives failed to derail the convention's feminist agenda, nor were they able to enact a rescission of Kansas' ratification, but in the long run they succeeded in creating widespread uneasiness about the social consequences of the ERA. The vitriolic anti-ERA campaign demonstrated the extent to which female dependency still defined both male and female conservatives' views on the interrelatedness of family, religion, manliness, and national strength. This dissertation explores a volume of letters to Kansas legislators expressing anti-ERA sentiment. The letters provide a unique lens through which to examine the passions aroused by the ERA among grassroots conservatives. Contextualizing this issue are other conservative reactions to feminist activity from the Revolution onward that consistently demonstrate how conservatives valorize female dependency. Although the liberal position regarding women's rights has changed significantly over two hundred years, conservative reaction has invariably embraced and elevated the patriarchal family as proper and necessary to the smooth functioning of a Christian republic.

This Thesis is a local study employing new definitions of political activism and using oral histories, personal records and organizational archived material to debunk the myth that the feminist struggle surrounding the Equal Rights Amendment was separate from issues of race. Black women were involved in the fight for the ERA although not necessarily in the ways that White men and women might expect. Additionally, even when not obviously present, proponents and opponents of the ERA argued over the idea of Black women and race. Concern about Black women, overt racism and coded race language were all a part of the struggle by Georgia ERA Inc. advocates as well as Stop-ERA members. Race is intimately tied to the struggle for the ERA in Georgia.

This thesis explores the relationship between ideology generated by advocates of the Women's Liberation Movement and President Kimball's purposes of using Relief Society to strengthen Latter-day Saint (LDS) women. Navigating women through the societal attack on womanhood, President Kimball, and other general Church leaders during his administration (1973-1985), taught LDS women of their privilege and duty to the organization and the importance of generating strength through a sisterhood focused on service. Relief Society programs, procedures, and curriculum were evaluated, adjusted, and reinforced to deepen women's commitment to divinely established roles, to enhance women's doctrinal confidence, and expand the influence of women's leadership. The purpose of this thesis is to show how Relief Society strengthened LDS women's commitment to family and influenced increased cooperative efforts in defending families through Relief Society and priesthood organizations.

Graves discusses the important role that women played in the anti-ERA campaign in Georgia during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a controversial and divisive piece of legislation that polarized both legislators and constituents throughout the United States. Graves uses the anti-ERA campaign in Georgia as a model for studying the women who opposed the ERA on a national level. She writes about the differences between the feminist movement and the conservative grassroots movement, the role that anti-ERA women played in the rise of the New Right, and the legacy of the ERA’s failure in contemporary political context. Graves uses interviews and primary resource documents of the women involved in the campaign as well as a plethora of scholarly materials previously written about the ERA.