Blixa wrote:I was in a different state than Utah. The woman we followed like the sheep we were was a cousin of a woman in my ward. We'd never have known about the conference if it wasn't for the hoopdedo in Utah, but we soldiered on, driving our campers and pitching our tents, completely overwhelming the organizers, and rising in unison as our feet hit the bleachers. We were told we were fighting evil, an evil that was trying to claim our lives, to take our children away from us, to take away our way of life. Shoulder to shoulder we rose, thousands of us, voting "yes" or "no", depending on which card the woman from Utah raised.
We were lied to. And it wasn't until many many years later that we found out exactly how we'd been deceived. Some of us still bear the scars.
An interesting story...you should write your experience up. Or have you?[/quote]
No, I've never considered writing anything aobut it. Why would anyone be interested?
harmony wrote:We were lied to. And it wasn't until many many years later that we found out exactly how we'd been deceived.
What was the lie? I'm not saying they didn't lie, I'm saying I was born after 1975 and I really don't have a clue about what it was like.
We were told that if the ERA passed, our way of life would not survive. That we'd be forced to go to work. That we couldn't be stay at home moms any longer. That our girls would be drafted alongside our boys.
Blixa wrote:I was in a different state than Utah. The woman we followed like the sheep we were was a cousin of a woman in my ward. We'd never have known about the conference if it wasn't for the hoopdedo in Utah, but we soldiered on, driving our campers and pitching our tents, completely overwhelming the organizers, and rising in unison as our feet hit the bleachers. We were told we were fighting evil, an evil that was trying to claim our lives, to take our children away from us, to take away our way of life. Shoulder to shoulder we rose, thousands of us, voting "yes" or "no", depending on which card the woman from Utah raised.
We were lied to. And it wasn't until many many years later that we found out exactly how we'd been deceived. Some of us still bear the scars.
An interesting story...you should write your experience up. Or have you?
No, I've never considered writing anything aobut it. Why would anyone be interested?[/quote]
I would imagine many would be interested. There are lots of oral history projects that seek to document historical issues like this. I'd be interested for many reasons.
From the Ernest L. Wilkinson Diaries: "ELW dreams he's spattered w/ grease. Hundreds steal his greasy pants."
Blixa wrote:Well, then read about it. The internet is a richer source of information than I had access to at your age, youngster!
I know and in fact I get some of my information by having informal interviews with people at MDB.
(is not "the lie" self evident? That the ERA was nothing like the threat the church made it out to be.)
Well, obviously the unisex bathrooms thing is laughable. On the other hand, I'm still not sure about the draft (not that there's been a draft since I've been born, but still), or about gay marriage.
I hadn't heard that women would be forced to work and indeed that sounds ridiculous on the face of it. Nobody can even force men to go to work. If you have the money, you can retire as soon as you want. If you don't have the money, a couple can decide together how to work it out. If the man wants to be a stay-at-home dad, that happens sometimes too and I doubt the state ever had anything to say about it.
That's General Leo. He could be my friend if he weren't my enemy. eritis sicut dii I support NCMO
asbestosman wrote:Well, obviously the unisex bathrooms thing is laughable.
This was the most mentioned argument at the time. Members truly believed this.
Harmony, I think it would be very valuable to write about and post here as well, either as a thread or a blog entry. The blow that was struck helping defend women from having rights equal to men, needs documenting. Helping to understand the mindset of the women who willingly went along with that is important.