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Notre Dame women's basketball head coach, Muffet McGraw, spoke in a recent interview with Think Progress, and explained her position on why she will never hire another biological male assistant coach. She believes that women can do more to help each other.
Think Progress asked her the question on hiring she emphatically said "no." She has had an all-female staff for the past seven years.
“Women need the opportunity. They deserve the opportunity,” she said.
On Thursday, McGraw was asked about her recent comments.
"Did you know that the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced in 1967 and it still hasn't passed?" she replied. "We need 38 states to agree that discrimination on the basis of sex is unconstitutional. We've had a record number of women running for office and winning, and still we have 23 percent of the House and 25 percent of the Senate."
The Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Family Housing Act have guaranteed people equal rights to all regardless of sex. The main reason that ERA has been difficult to pass is because of actual biological differences between the sexes and the fear of actually losing some of their rights and social outcomes [e.g., child custody].
“Women need the opportunity. They deserve the opportunity,” she said.
On Thursday, McGraw was asked about her recent comments.
"Did you know that the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced in 1967 and it still hasn't passed?" she replied. "We need 38 states to agree that discrimination on the basis of sex is unconstitutional. We've had a record number of women running for office and winning, and still we have 23 percent of the House and 25 percent of the Senate."
Well, historically she's a bit off.
The Equal Rights Amendment designed to guarantee equal rights for all Americans regardless of sex, and sought to end legal distinctions between men and women was introduced to Congress in 1921. It had support from middle-class women but many women of the working class opposed the amendment because it suggested that employed women needed special protection regarding working conditions and employment hours.
With the Women's Movement of the 1960s, ERA gained support and was re-introduced by Rep. Martha Griffiths (D-MI) in 1971. The House approved the amendment in October of that year, and on March 22, 1972, the Senate approved it. Now all the amendment needed was for 38 states to ratify it and "boom," it would be law as specified in Article V of the U.S. Constitution.
But by 1977, the amendment got only 35 of the required 38 state legislature votes to ratify it, and it had bipartisan support.
Phyllis Schlafly mobilized conservative women to oppose the amendment because she believed it would harm women in cases of child custody and alimony support, and it would leave them open for the military draft.
However, it wasn't only conservatives who opposed the amendment. Labor feminists were also against its passage because they too believed it would eliminate the protection of women in the work force.
Five of the 35 states that signed on with the amendment [ID, KY, NE, TN, and SD] voted to revoke their original ratification.
In fact, in 1960, the Democratic National Committee rejected the proposal after the AFL-CIO, ACLU, the American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Democratic Action, American Nurse's Association, and other equally liberal-minded organizations, were dead set against the amendment.
But to listen to argument in the media, you'd never know that ERA has been opposed by the liberal left, the people who supposedly fight for women's rights.
"Girls are socialized to know when they come out, gender rules are already set. Men run the world. Men have the power. Men make the decisions. It's always the man that is the stronger one,” she said, not taking into account that women are the majority of voters.
This isn't an argument against McGraw hiring only women. That works for both genders and it's understandable from her perspective.
However, to say that women basically don't have equal rights as men simply dismisses the current discrimination laws.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Family Housing Act have guaranteed people equal rights to all regardless of sex. The main reason that ERA has been difficult to pass is because of actual biological differences between the sexes and the fear of actually losing some of their rights and social outcomes [e.g., child custody].
So, by all means Ms. McGraw, don't hire men if you believe that women understand women's basketball and the players better than men. But please don't have women play the victim--we've got Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for that.
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