U.S. Region That Strongly Opposed the Equal Rights Amendment

The Southern United States was the region most solidly opposed to the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Opposition stemmed from concerns that the ERA would:

• Disrupt traditional gender roles and the patriarchal social structure.
• Mandate absolute legal equality, potentially invalidating protective labor laws for women.
• Lead to unisex draft registration, same-sex marriage, and abortion rights (arguments used at the time).
• Undermine state laws favoring male head-of-household status.

Southern state legislatures were the primary bloc blocking ratification in the 1970s and 1980s.