Roberta Madden wants to live to see the day the Equal Rights Amendment is added to the U.S. Constitution.

At 78, the Black Mountain resident fears she is running out of time.

My first impression was a flashback to the episode of Gilligan’s Island where the Japanese mariner didn’t know the war was over. I had to do some research. According to equalrightsamendment.org, the amendment states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” So, who is running afoul – especially in this day of 58 genders and gender identities?

In December, hackers revealed a pay gap between men and women on Sony Pictures’ payroll — one female executive was making nearly $1 million less than her male counterpart.

Whatever happened to private contracts and prices being whatever the buyer and seller find agreeable? I’ve been in workplaces and heard stories that went the other way. I mean, who hasn’t lost a promotion to a hot, incompetent bimbo? What’s more, in my experience, it is always the schmoozers, whiners, and negotiators who end up commanding a high salary. If a place disrespects me to the point I feel they are not adequately compensating me, I have the option of going somewhere I will be “celebrated, not tolerated.” For the record, I am a contract laborer who, after taxes, earns $3.75 an hour. I don’t think there will be a lefty on the planet arguing I am worth a penny more. After nine months scrounging for work and borrowing from my fiscally conservative friends, I’m happy to have a job. If I want a competitive, high-tech job, I can hit the math books instead of the mattress when I get home in the wee hours.

Another reason was Patricia Arquette’s amazing speech that caught Meryl Streep on camera – and since Streep is famous, her wish is our command. Here’s Arquette’s spiel:

Madden and others rallied in Raleigh just one day after actress Patricia Arquette called for wage equality and equal rights for women while accepting an Oscar. Media outlets nationwide ran photos of celebrities Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez shouting, “Yes!”

Initially, arguments against the ERA included that it would prevent husbands from supporting their wives, invade privacy, and lead to abortion, homosexual marriage, women in combat and unisex bathrooms.

Now that we have all that, what lack we?

The ERA is the “umbrella of protection” that should be a part of the U.S. Constitution, [NC Representative Susan] Fisher said. “Many citizens mistakenly believe that it has already been passed, when in fact in this contemporary day and time, women do not have the equality under the Constitution that would afford them the basic rights that men have enjoyed since before the Constitution was written.”

We are told:

It will address state regulatory issues limiting access to reproductive health care, fair wages and educational opportunities. . . .

Further, increased regulations on women’s health care in recent years — specifically the fact the women of Western North Carolina are currently without an abortion provider — speaks to the hostile legislative climate for women, said [president of Asheville NOW Sherrie] McLendon.

So, if I understand this, we want men to have equal access to reproductive healthcare, which, according to political rhetoric, equates to subsidized abortions.

Companies are pushing pregnant workers out of the workforce acting on outdated stereotypes that a woman’s income is irrelevant, Ariela Migdal, an attorney and senior staff member for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights Project in New York City, said in January.

That last sentence could have been half as long if she would reduce the size of her title. But, I get the point. If scheduling requires the ditch be digged by noon, it makes no difference if an eight-month pregnant woman prescribed bedrest and subject to fainting spells do it or a big, brawny dude who can finish with an hour to spare. It’s like the great Kip Chalmers train wreck in Atlas Shrugged, which was predicated on the assumption that the physical world can be legislated away.

“The idea that I am considered less of a citizen than a man is untenable to me and I do not accept it,” [McClendon] said. “It may be legal, but it is wrong.”

Who is saying this? The only citizenship challenges I hear pertain to one POTUS, huddled masses of south-of-the-border types yearning to be free, and the Mara Salvatrucha.

It grates me that some kids are out there obeying their parents when they say, “Thou shalt not fornicate,” and it’s those who try to live responsibly who pick up the tab for those who want to take a walk on the wild side. I am not judging anybody. I don’t know what it is like to be so sexy I can’t keep my clothes on. I’m just saying the tradition of families makes a lot of economic sense – small units to look after the economic needs of each other, as opposed to a big government charged with making sure the working class has no fun so they can pay for the party habits of the other.

I think women are so much more than abortion factories. Abortions, like amputations, may be called for in extenuating circumstances. But let’s not delude ourselves into believing we can re-legislate the whole animal kingdom.