by Anne Schlafly Cori, chairman, Eagle Forum and daughter of Phyllis Schlafly
“Mrs. America” is a show that no one liked. Feminists did not like been portrayed as vapid and bickering. Conservative women objected to being called racist. Hollywood wanted to recreate a fictional 1970s golden age when feminism was a power player in national politics. The producers and stars hoped that through their re-telling, the failed Equal Rights Amendment would be ratified into the U.S. Constitution.
Here is what the producers and scriptwriters of “Mrs. America” missed: all women do not think alike. Many women like being female and many women value being wives and mothers. These women do not look to government to legislate an equality that would actually harm girls and women.
Instead, “Mrs. America” dismisses the conservative objections to ERA. The woman who portrays Phyllis Schlafly said in an interview, “What is so frightening about equality?” Cate Blanchett, who calls herself an actor – not an actress, misses that most women do not desire to be men or to be interchangeable with men. The women who opposed the feminist ideology saw no advantage to losing the rights they already had for a vague pursuit of “equality.” The feminist ideology did not then – and still does not now – allow for women to profess other viewpoints, especially on the topic of abortion. The feminists demeaned women who chose to prioritize their families.
“Mrs. America” let all women down by flattening the characterizations of these dynamic leaders. Gloria Steinem and Eleanor Smeal have complained against the “catfight history” that the drama tells. I agree with my opponents; the powerful women of the 1970s are instead portrayed as shallow (Gloria Steinem), vain (Betty Freidan), unfaithful (Brenda Feigen-Fasteau), paranoid (Shirley Chisholm), and manipulative (Bella Abzug). These real women were not treated well by this cartoonish interpretation.
For Gloria Steinem and Eleanor Smeal, the worst sin of “Mrs. America” was the star-treatment the drama gave to Phyllis Schlafly. Hollywood actually portrayed a conservative woman as brilliant, dynamic, and charismatic. “Mrs. America” got one thing right: Phyllis Schlafly was a successful leader. Steinem recently complained, “Schlafly was window dressing,” thus once again Steinem demeans a homemaker and cannot give any credit to another woman.
In truth, my mother would have loved to have seen herself dramatized by a beautiful actress. Her enterprising side would have sold pictures of Blanchett dressed as Schlafly as a fundraising tool for Eagle Forum!
I hope that my opponents will join me in objecting to the character attack on the women who opposed ERA and supported my mother. According to “Mrs. America,” these women were objects of derision. The many women I personally knew in the 1970s who worked with my mother were dynamic forces. They chose to devote their time and energy to a cause that was very important to their lives. These women loved and admired Phyllis because she did walk the talk with them: family first. Phyllis articulated their beliefs and she was willing and able to be battered and bruised for her beliefs. These committed and devoted women were grateful for a leader who gracefully responded to those who attacked her. These women instinctively knew that an attack on Phyllis Schlafly was an attack on them and the choices they had made in their lives.
The only way “Mrs. America” could twist the true history was to invent fictional characters on the Stop ERA side; the plot device shows the fictional “Alice” turning against Phyllis Schlafly after Alice’s wonderland experience with feminists. The writers had to make that part up because they could not find any real person who turned on Phyllis. Most damaging, the writers injected racism and created other fictional characters to manufacture a charge of bigotry.
Despite the historical inaccuracies, “Mrs. America” provided a benefit to Phyllis’s organization, Eagle Forum. Donations and supporters increased as a new generation of young women were inspired by the brains, beauty, and wit of Phyllis. She was able to “have it all”: loving husband, large family, higher education, and an immensely satisfying career. She was an intelligent, interesting, passionate, and charismatic leader who believed deeply and was successful in creating a movement in fly-over country that defeated the “smart” women on the coasts. As the series progressed, the producers attempt to portray Phyllis as a cruel monster, including throwing her daughter (me!) in a pool and choking her friend in a dream sequence. Phyllis could not have inspired women to follow her if she were power-mad and mean. In trying to turn Phyllis into a demon, the movie utterly missed the secret to her success: her charm and humor.
My mother’s greatest achievement was in providing a role model for conservative women to speak up. Phyllis demonstrated that women could have power and influence without feminism. I know hundreds of women who told me that their involvement in politics was directly because Phyllis paved the way. Gloria Steinem always complained that Phyllis did not deserve any recognition – which is comical because the mainstream media did purposefully ignore her movement in the 1970s. Phyllis was never on the cover of any national magazine or treated to fawning interviews by elite media. Steinem is famous today not because of her actions but because the media constantly celebrated her good looks.
“Mrs. America” the movie, for all of its faults, is not as bad for American women as the Equal Rights Amendment would have been. As the final credits show, ERA failed ratification and the results of the “catfight” was the rise of conservatism in America. Unintended, I am sure, but we should thank Cate Blanchett for producing this tribute to a great American heroine.