ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces a current status report about women in the United States and their place on the world stage as it pertains to equality. It provides an overview of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), including the obstacles to its passage, and strategies in place to pass the amendment. The Equal Rights Amendment, as was the 19 Amendment in granting women suffrage, is yet another legal attempt to close the chasm caused by the ill considerations of the white male framers of the Constitution, to remedy for past omissions. The chapter discusses the nexus between the ERA and the Selective Service Act. In turn the Selective Service System, together with the contentious debates ensued in advancing the narrative for women's citizenship via military service but in the end without the benefit of full citizenship. The chapter closes with the implications of not passing the ERA and women's continued exclusion from the Selective Service System.
