In a Lifetime original movie, A Will of Their Own, a local schoolteacher describes her annoyance plainly. "What really galls me is that I taught you gentlemen to read and write and you get to vote, but I don't." This was frustrating. Even today, with the advent of this amendment, there have been no female presidents and few female politicians and congresswomen. This, too, is frustrating. Ever present also is the seemingly forgotten Equal Rights Amendment, or ERA. Supporters of this amendment claim that it is " needed because the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not provide adequate protection against sex discrimination." The amendment was written by suffragist Alice Paul in 1921, and has been presented in Congress every session since 1923. Although it passed in 1972, it failed to be ratified by the necessary thirty-eight states by the July 1982 deadline. Only thirty-five states ratified it. This, too, is extremely frustrating. .
In economics, also, gender has stripped women of success and opportunity and enveloped them in a spiral of frustration. Since the making of a middle-class lady in the 1800s, husbands have been returning home to their wives after a hard day's work, expecting a well-cooked meal, a spotless house, and well disciplined children. It was assumed that women were the weaker sex because they did not earn money from their labors. Not so long ago, career options were severely limited to women. In the 1950s and 60s, women were told their future, as a nurse, teacher, or secretary. There were very few female lawyers and doctors. It was almost unheard of. Women were handed their goals, and were not given the choice to set their own. This was frustrating. Even in the world apart from reality, Hollywood was, and still is, not always a safe haven for working actresses. Always present in the unwritten rules of television and cinema is the principle that, "As men age, they become more distinguished.
