--- description: Whatever happened to the Equal Rights Amendment? title: Why Women's Equality Isn't Protected by the Constitution image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f54dd3a6f50e196/698860d7cd1bba1a786fce2e/gettyimages-161990208.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Living](/tag/time-section-living/) ## Living Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Women's Equality Still Isn't Protected by the Constitution  by [Arpita Aneja](/author/arpita-aneja/)  ## Arpita Aneja Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 25, 2015 10:50 PM CUT  APR 25 1981, APR 27 1981; Picketes Supported Equal Rights Amendment Protested Views being discussed at Pro- Family Meet.; (Photo By Dave Buresh/The Denver Post via Getty Images) APR 25 1981, APR 27 1981; Picketes Supported Equal Rights Amendment Protested Views being discussed at Pro- Family Meet.; (Photo By Dave Buresh/The Denver Post via Getty Images)Dave Buresh—Denver Post via Getty Images  by [Arpita Aneja](/author/arpita-aneja/)  ## Arpita Aneja Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 25, 2015 10:50 PM CUT Wednesday is Women’s Equality Day, but the Constitution still does not have an amendment that explicitly guarantees women equal rights. Whatever happened to the Equal Rights Amendment that Congress passed in 1972? Watch the video above to learn how the Amendment came to be—and ultimately failed. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4010569/womens-equality-day-equal-rights/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4010569/womens-equality-day-equal-rights/"},"headline":"Why Women's Equality Still Isn't Protected by the Constitution","datePublished":"2015-08-25T22:50:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:57:18.559Z","description":"Whatever happened to the Equal Rights Amendment?","url":"https://time.com/4010569/womens-equality-day-equal-rights/","keywords":["Living","feminism"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f54dd3a6f50e196/698860d7cd1bba1a786fce2e/gettyimages-161990208.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Arpita Aneja","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/arpita-aneja/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f54dd3a6f50e196/698860d7cd1bba1a786fce2e/gettyimages-161990208.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"APR 25 1981, APR 27 1981; Picketes Supported Equal Rights Amendment Protested Views being discussed","caption":"APR 25 1981, APR 27 1981; Picketes Supported Equal Rights Amendment Protested Views being discussed","creditText":"Dave Buresh—Denver Post via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4010569/womens-equality-day-equal-rights/","name":"Why Women's Equality Still Isn't Protected by the Constitution"}}]}] ```