Backwards and in High Heels: National Women’s Conference, 1977

Houston, November 1977. In 1975, International Women's Year, President Gerald Ford had convened the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year to guide federal planning on gender equality programs. In 1977, the Commission has organized the National Women's Conference (NWC), at which delegates from across the country can vote on the 26 planks of the National Plan of Action, a set of recommendations to be submitted to President Carter. Any woman in the country can run for and represent her state as a delegate, discussing issues such as the ratification of a proposed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and financial priorities. The ERA, a potential constitutional amendment banning discrimination on the basis of gender, has 34 of the 38 state ratifications it requires but there is a growing movement against it, supposedly campaigning for traditional gender roles. Secondly, a significant portion of the issues need to be addressed through government-funded programs in a time when woman-focused funding is nearly nonexistent. Thus, the Carter administration has granted delegates $15 million to allocate according to which groups will benefit most from the investment. Delegates of the NWC must now vote on what the women of America, together, want.

*This commitee features the following crisis elements:

• Crisis Updates

• Potential Timed Crises

For any questions, please email the director at nwc@markmun.ca.