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THE ERA CAMPAIGN AND MENSTRUAL EQUITY
Jennifer Weiss-Wolfr
A robust national campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment conceded
defeat in 1982 when ratification fell short by three of the 38 states needed to prevail.
But in 2017, the Nevada legislature cast its vote to ratify the ERA, followed by
Illinois in 2018, marking a revival. Now national movement leaders and legislators
in several states-notably, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia-are
rallying to achieve the 38-state threshold.'
Over the nearly four decades in between, of course, much has changed in
American life and law. The fight for gender equality under the law has made
significant headway-from the evolution of Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence
in sex discrimination cases, to advances in employment and economic policies, to
the now vibrant and potent era of activism defined by campaigns like #MeToo and
#TIMESUP.
Well beyond the symbolic significance of enshrining gender equality in the
Constitution, there are lingering legal and policy inequities the ERA would help
rectify-among these, workplace discrimination, including on account of pregnancy;
paid family leave; and increased protection from violence and harassment. Other
benefits include the ability of Congress to enforce gender equality through legislation
and, more generally, creation of a social framework to formally acknowledge
systemic biases that permeate and often limit women's daily experiences.
There is one issue, in particular-an emerging area of U.S. policymaking-
that falls squarely at the intersection of these goals and outcomes, but is largely
absent from ERA discourse thus far: menstruation and the emerging movement for
menstrual equity. This essay describes the progress of that agenda through policy
advocacy, litigation, and social activism, and explains why menstrual equity belongs
in discourse about-and will be an invaluable asset for-the campaign to ratify the
ERA.
Globally, the disparate impact of menstruation on women's well-being is
significant, though not widely known. On any given day, there are eight hundred
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf is vice president and the inaugural women and democracy fellow of the
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law. A leading advocate for issues of gender, politics-and
menstruation-she was dubbed the architect of the U. S. campaign to squash the tampon tax
by Newsweek and the nation's tampon crusader by New York magazine. Her 2017 book Periods
Gone Public: Taking a Stand for Menstrual Equity was lauded by Gloria Steinem as the beginning
of liberation for us all. A regular contributor to Ms. Magazine, Weiss-Wolf's writing and policy
work have been featured by The New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, Cosmopolitan, Harper's
Bazaar, Teen Vogue, Marie Claire, Vox, Vice, and NPR, among others. She also is a contributor to
the 2018 Young Adult anthology, Period.: Twelve Voices Tell the Bloody Truth. Weiss-Wolfreceived
her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
1 Maya Salam, U/hat is the Equal Rights Amendment, and Why Are We Talking About It Now?, N.Y.
Tims (Feb. 22, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/us/equal-rights-amendment-what-is-
it.html?rref=collectiono2Fbyline%/`2Fmaya-
salam&action=click&contentCollection=undefined®ion=stream&module=streamunit&version=1
atest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=collection [https://perma.cc/8E64-54NC].
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