Equal is Equal

“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

That guarantee attracted bipartisan support, and both the House and the Senate approved the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970’s. But then it fell three states short of ratification. Today it is largely forgotten.

Equal Means Equal offers an unflinching look at how women are treated in the United States today. Examining both real-life stories and precedent-setting legal cases, director, Kamala Lopez, uncovers how outdated and discriminatory attitudes inform and influence seemingly disparate issues, from workplace harassment to domestic violence, rape and sexual assault to the foster care system, and the healthcare conglomerate to the judicial system. Her interviews feature legal experts, ordinary women and top-line feminists (including Eleanor Smeal and Gloria Steinem), who are still making a case for for the urgency of ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment decades later.