five snouts up for mrs. america series–can we do it this time? mrs. america and the death of sweeping times

(:)(:)(:)(:)(:) for the series mrs. america produced by fx and streaming on hulu now. mrs. america is television at its best. in it virtually every major feminist or anti-feminist public figure of the 1970s is fictionally but faithfully represented. the cast is unparalleled; from cate blanchett as conservative anti-feminist phyllis schlafly to rose byrne as ms. magazine founder gloria steinem and on through uzo aduba (crazy eyes from orange is the new black) as first black female candidate for president rep. shirley chisholm, margo martingdale as rep. bella abzug, tracy ullman as feminine mystique author betty friedan and elizabeth banks as republican feminist jill ruckelshaus. well known actress sarah paulson is stunning as less known schafly sidekick alice macray. i’m pretty tickled to mention all the top women in the production and wait until last to call out john slattery (mad men) as john aka mrs. phyllis schlafly, also marvelous.

the writing, the performances, the costumes, the music all stunningly evoke the times. the show should be watched for straight up entertainment alone, but like it or not it will educate you. did you know, for example, that the passage of the equal rights amendment (era) to the united states constitution was considered inevitable before phyllis schlafly made it her life’s work to stop it? did you know that there was a huge national women’s conference in 1977 in houston called by a commission created by president jimmy carter and that they allowed anti-feminists to infiltrate it? did you know that phyllis schlafly’s successful campaign to stop the era was what launched the conservative eagle forum which is part of what swept ronald reagan into the white house and launched the modern arch rightwing conservative movement that ultimately elected donald trump president?

i’m embarrassed to admit that before watching this series, i sort of knew all these things but couldn’t have strung together a coherent narrative. my husband of course could, but men know everything don’t they?

what really, however, tugged at my heart, my mind and my conscience was the sense of lost potential. every step of the way the majority of americans has probably wanted guaranteed equality for women, guaranteed equality for people of color, and perhaps, more recently, guaranteed equality for immigrants and the lbgtq community (whose struggle is inexorably tied to the fight for non discrimination on the basis of sex as the landmark positive supreme court decision yesterday showed).

yet there in the 1970s the feminists felt unstoppable. almost every elected representative of both parties started out in favor of the era. it absolutely seemed guaranteed that the constitution would be amended to cement women’s rights. but so far it hasn’t been (there is a legal debate about whether it still could be building on the initial state’s ratifications). every step of the way we have been out-organized by the far right. a decided minority has used dirty tricks to manipulate victory again and again in the past 40 years since phyllis schlafy ramped up her band of housewives to fight against their own interests.

how could that have happened? and more importantly, how many times are we going to let that happen again? these times seem portentous of real change again. yet in 2020 we are in a far worse structural position than gloria steinem and bella abzug were back them. they lived in a time when the impeachment of a president led to his resignation in disgrace–and nixon supported the era!

let us do the work in consciousness and in the world to destroy and uncreate the belief systems that lead to overconfidence and overreach today. let us continue to organize for peace and justice and a world that works for everyone. let us be smart, creative and harness the power of love to overcome evil and dirty tricks through brand new ways. what else is possible? how does it get any better than this?