Mrs America: The key players portrayed in the BBC drama about Women’s Liberation

The women portrayed in Mrs America all had a colossal impact on US politics and women’s rights, writes Harriet Hall

Among the battles that were waged on the status quo by second-wave feminism, from reproductive rights to equal pay and girls’ education, the fight to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the United States was one of the most conflict laden.

Such was the level of tension and passion on both sides of the debate, the battle for the ERA has been dramatised in a BBC series that is proving to be almost as tense, divisive – and viewed – as the original moment in history.

Mrs America, written by Mad Men writer and producer Dahvi Waller, follows the trailblazers of the Women’s Liberation movement - Betty Friedan (Tracey Ullman), Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne), Shirley Chisholm (Uzo Aduba) and Bella Abzug (Margo Martindale) - alongside their adversary Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett), who contributed to the eventual blocking of the ERA.

The ERA was a proposed amendment to the US constitution that sought to end discrimination on the basis of sex. It was first introduced to Congress as early as 1923 following women’s enfranchisement but was not approved by the Senate until 1972. Fiercely opposed by conservative activist Schlafly, the passing of the ERA was eventually stopped in its tracks.

Steinem has dismissed Mrs America as “not a very good series.” Speaking with journalist Laura Bates at this year’s virtual Hay Festival, Steinem said, “the series makes it seem as if women are our own worst enemies, which keeps us from recognising who our own worst enemies are,” and claimed that the series wrongly attributes too much influence to her right-wing adversary.

“That’s the problem with this ridiculous television show,” Steinem said, “I’m sure the actors in it are fine, it’s just the thrust of the story is the problem.”

What is undeniable is that the women portrayed in Mrs America all had a colossal impact on US politics and women’s rights – whichever side of the debate they sat on.

BETTY FRIEDAN

(4 February 1921 – 4 February 2006)

Betty Friedan is played by Tracey Ullman in Mrs America ((Getty) ) ((Getty))

Betty Friedan’s seminal 1963 manifesto The Feminine Mystique is widely credited with igniting the second wave of feminism. The book was born out of an article pitch that had been rejected by several magazines.

It set out to investigate what Friedan called “the problem that has no name” – the curse of domesticity. The idea had come to Friedan shortly after she was fired from her job for being pregnant and had no choice but to become a housewife. Convinced she wasn’t alone in her dissatisfaction with domestic drudgery and the limitations imposed upon her and her female contemporaries, Friedan conducted a survey of her fellow college alumni – and her suspicious were confirmed.

The initial survey, and several subsequent polls Friedan conducted among young women, founded the basis for The Feminine Mystique, which outlined the pervasive discrimination women faced every day. In voicing these previously unspoken frustrations, Friedan sparked a movement, igniting fire in the bellies of women across America. Her book became a bestseller.

Born Bettye Naomi Goldstein in Illinois in 1921 to a journalist mother and jeweller father, Friedan went on to study psychology at Smith College, where she became the editor of the student newspaper, before continuing her studies at Berkley. During the Second World War, Friedan ingratiated herself in Marxist circles and dropped out of Berkley, going on to work as a journalist for union newspaper Federated Press and then left-wing UE News.

No woman gets an orgasm from shining the kitchen floor

Betty Friedan

In 1947 she married Cark Friedman, a theatre producer with whom she had one child before getting fired from UE News when pregnant with her second. She later changed her surname, removing the letter "M" and with it, the word "man" from her name.

After the resounding success of The Feminine Mystique, Friedan became an active feminist and, in 1966, she co-founded the National Organisation for Women. The civil rights group fought for reproductive rights, greater representation of women in politics, equal pay, maternity leave and improved childcare among other issues.

In 1968, she was a founding member of the National Conference for Repeal of Abortion Laws and, in 1971, of the National Women’s Political Caucus.

Friedan – as with much of second wave feminism – was criticised for her white, middle class, heterosexual focus, as well as for the controversy surrounding her fraught relationship with Gloria Steinem.

Not without problems, Friedan’s approach was nonetheless pivotal in the progress made by Women’s Lib during the 1960s and 1970s. She went on to write five more feminist books and remained politically active until her death in 2006 on her 85^th birthday.

SHIRLEY CHISHOLM

(30 November 1924 – 1 January 2005)

Shirley Chisholm is played by Uzo Aduba in Mrs America ((Getty) ) ((Getty))

Shirley Chisholm was a woman of firsts: the first black woman to become elected to Congress, the first black person to run for US president and the first woman to make a bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1924 as Shirley Anita St. Hill, Chisholm was a second-generation immigrant – daughter to a Guyanan factory worker father and a Barbadian seamstress mother - and was the oldest of their four daughters. She spent part of her childhood in Barbados before returning to Brooklyn at the age of nine.

After graduating cum laude from Brooklyn College in 1946, Chisholm became a nursery school teacher before going on to earn a master’s degree from Columbia University in early childhood education in 1951. By 1960 she had secured roles as the director of several daycare centres and became a consultant for the New York City Division of Day Care.

Chisholm was startlingly aware of the intersection of discrimination she faced as a black woman – what she referred to as “a double handicap” – and passionately fought against it. In the 1960s she became a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and the League of Women Voters. In 1964 she took her activist aspirations further, successfully running for the New York State assembly.

Through her politics, Chisholm campaigned for race, gender and social justice, as well as education reform and immigrant rights.

In 1968 Chisholm became the first black congresswomen. She was known for her powerful speeches and razor-sharp debating prowess. Her campaign slogan was “unbought and unbossed” and she went on to serve seven terms in the House of Representatives, introducing over 50 pieces of legislation.

She became a founding member of the National Women’s Political Caucus along with Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem in 1971.

Going one step further in 1972, Chisholm made a vie for the US presidency, and ran for the Democratic nomination. Announcing her presidential bid, Chisholm said, “I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud; I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of the country; although I am a woman, and I am equally proud of that. I am the candidate of the people, and my presence before you now symbolises a new era in American political history.”

If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair

Shirley Chisholm

During her campaign she survived several assassination attempts and was blocked from joining most of the televised primary debates due to her race, leading her to take legal action to ensure her right to join.

As well as her political work, Chisholm also authored two books: Unbought and Unbossed (1970), and The Good Fight (1973). After retiring from congress in 1983, Chisholm re-joined the teaching profession. In 1991 she moved to Florida where she lived until her death aged 80 in 2005.

Chisholm was posthumously awarded the Presidential medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2015. Viola Davis is set to play the lead in Chisholm biopic, The Fearsome Shirley Chisholm.

GLORIA STEINEM

(b.25 March 1934)

Gloria Steinem is played by Rose Byrne in Mrs America ((Getty) ) ((Getty))

Gloria Steinem made her name as a journalist when she went undercover at Hugh Hefner’s New York Playboy Club to write an expose for Show magazine in 1963, dressing up as a cocktail waitress in a satin bodice and felt bunny ears to uncover the exploitation and misogyny behind the scenes. The article, “A Bunny’s Tale”, was met with criticism but contributed to Steinem’s reputation as a fearless feminist activist.

Steinem’s work as a journalist ranged from exploring the effects the contraceptive pill had on sexual freedom to arguing for an organised feminist movement. In the 1960s she became a founding editor of New York magazine and became a columnist for the publication. Her 1969 essay, “After Black Power, Women’s Liberation”, in which she espoused the view that gender equality would be mutually beneficial to both men and women, was widely hailed.

Born in Ohio in 1934, Steinem’s route into feminism came before birth. Her paternal grandmother had been president of the Ohio Women’s Suffrage Association. Her mother, Ruth Steinem, suffered with mental ill health long before Steinem was born and Steinem cared for her following the departure of her father, seeing the myriad ways in which society dismissed women.

Steinem attended Smith College where she studied government, graduating magna cum laude in 1956, before launching her freelance writing career.

Becoming increasingly interested in feminism, Steinem delivered a speech at a pro-abortion rally, sharing the story of a backstreet abortion she had at the age of 22. After this she spoke at numerous events and lectured widely – and continues to do so today.

A woman has two choices: she’s either a feminist or a masochist

Gloria Steinem

In 1971 she became one of the founding members of the National Women’s Politicial Caucus alongside fellow activists Shirley Chisholm and Betty Friedan and Congresswoman Bella Abzug. Steinem has co-founded several other organisations throughout her life, promoting equal education opportunities for girls, positive representations of women in the media and pro-choice lobby groups.

Fed up of a lack of dedicated space for feminist journalism, Steinem launched Ms magazine in 1971 which she edited for 15 years, addressing topics from abortion rights to domestic violence. The radical magazine became the defining publication of second-wave feminism and Steinem a global figurehead for the movement.

Throughout her life Steinem has published several books, hosted documentaries and campaigned widely. Her memoir, My Life on the Road (2015) told of her fight against sexism, her struggle with breast cancer and detailed the abortion she had in her early twenties. Steinem dedicated the book to the doctor who performed the procedure, describing that he asked her to make two promises. “First, you will not tell anyone my name,” he said, “second, you will do what you want to do with your life.” Underneath the quote, Steinem wrote, “Dear Dr. Sharpe… I’ve done the best I could with my life. This book is for you.”

In 2013 President Barack Obama presented Steinem with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She continues to be active today.

PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY

(15 August 1924 – 5 September 2016)

Phyllis Schlafly is played by Cate Blanchett in Mrs America ((Getty) ) ((Getty))

Phyllis Schlafly spearheaded the campaign to oppose the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) that would have seen an addition to the US Constitution enforcing gender equality. A self-identified housewife despite her active role in political organising and numerous writings, Schlafly believed that the ERA would be damaging for women, seeing it as a direct threat to American values and a possible conduit to female military conscription.

There was no problem with the way women were treated under the law, as far as Schlafly was concerned. “The major objection to the Equal Rights Amendment is that it would take away privilege that women currently have,” she once said. “The right to stay home.”

Schlafly was born in Missouri in 1924 to Roman Catholic parents. Her father had lost his job to the Great Depression and her mother worked as a teacher, librarian and shopkeeper to keep the family afloat. Schlafly studied politics at Washington University and went on to do an MA in the subject at Radcliffe College, studying she funded with a part-time job testing guns at a munitions factory.

I’d like to thank my husband, Fred, for letting me be here today

Phyllis Schlafly

In 1949 Schlafly married and later had six children. Despite espousing homophobic views in her campaigns, she stood by her son when he was outed as gay. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t control what he says or his behaviour,” she reportedly said in an interview.

Firmly anti-communist, Schlafly helped found the Cardinal Mindszenty Foundation which aimed to educate Catholics about the dangers of being politically red. With her sights set firmly on government, Schlafly unsuccessfully ran for congress twice for the Republican party– in 1952 and in 1960 – with a strong focus on anti-communism, both times unsuccessful. Nonetheless, Schlafly’s views impacted right-wing politics, as she served as a delegate at Republican national conventions.

Schlafly was prolific in her work, publishing a weekly newspaper column and hosting a radio show. In 1965 she began publishing a monthly political newsletter, The Phyllis Schlafly Report, which she went on to publish for decades. She also authored several books including the self-published A Choice Not an Echo (1964), which sold in the millions.

Her most impassioned work was that against feminism and her staunch defence of traditional family life, which appeared to go directly against her own life and upbringing. Schlafly’s targeted campaign against the ERA was what she would become most famous for. Beginning her lobbying in 1972, she formed the organisation Stop ERA.

The ERA had been ratified across 30 states before Schlafly mounted her campaign against it. Her lobbying fuelled conservative and religious opposition and, by 1982, the ERA was just three votes short of being fully ratified. She is widely considered instrumental in the amendment’s eventual collapse.

Schlafly died aged 92 in 2016, but not before endorsing Donald Trump’s bid for presidency. At her funeral, the President said, “A movement has lost its hero.”

Harriet Hall is the author of She: A Celebration of 100 Renegade Women which is available to buy here.