ERA got me in trouble in college.
I was taking a freshman "Critical Thinking" class. The topic of the ERA came up. After several impassioned arguments for and against were made by several students, I was asked my opinion. I said, "The thing that amazes me most about all the comments I've heard today and before is that I know almost no one who can recite the amendment." I then asked several of the anti-ERA males in the room, "Can you tell me what it says exactly? How about you? What about you?" No one could answer my question.
The prof, an "empowered" woman very much pro-ERA came to the defense, "Well, you can't expect people to have the whole thing memorized." I replied, "Well, you can if they've ever read it!" She said, "Well, I've read it and I don't remember all of it." I replied, "That's preposterous! Section 1 is one sentence, Section 2 is one sentence and Section 3 is one sentence that says the amendment takes effect in two years. If you've ever read it, you couldn't forget what it says. And if you've never read it, how can you have an informed opinion on it? I find it ironic that I'm sitting in a Critical Thinking classroom where no one is thinking critically about this issue."
That didn't go over very well. She said, "Well then, why don't you tell us what it says?" So, I did. That went over even worse ;-)
