Following the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Halloween Star Jamie Lee Curtis shared a photo to her Instagram of a shredded U.S Constitution.
Curtis captioned the image stating, “My friend @mazikself posted this. Appropriate and concerning. A call to action for us to protect the constitution and try to get the inclusion rider, the ERA added.”
The image is a reference to street-artist Banksy’s recent destruction of his “Balloon Girl” painting. The painting sold for $1.4 million at a Sotheby’s auction, but as the gavel dropped, the painting was shredded.
ERA stands for the Equal Rights Amendment. It was originally written by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman and introduced to Congress in 1921. It would gain wide support in the early 1970s. The amendment would pass through the House of Representatives and even be ratified by the U.S. Senate. However, it would fail to be ratified by the individual states.
The amendment reads:
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.
While the amendment did gain wide support, conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly would lead a campaign to oppose the ERA stating it would invalidate protective laws like alimony, and potentially eliminate the ability of mother to get custody of their children in divorce cases. Schalafly and those opposed to the ERA also indicated that it could do away with single-sex bathrooms. However, the main argument was that women would become eligible for the draft, allowing the government to conscript them into service when it deems.
Curtis has reentered the spotlight while promoting her upcoming role as Laurie Strode in Halloween. She has used the opportunity to promote the film to also push her own political agenda. She began dipping her toes by declaring the upcoming Halloween film is a #MeToo film. She would follow that up with a stint on The View comparing her character of Laurie Strode to Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser Christine Blasey Ford. She’s also weighed in on Nike’s ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick. And now she is referring to the destruction of the United States Constitution after the Republican process of nominating and approving Kavanaugh went through.
What do you make of Curtis using her celebrity status to push her personal political agenda? Will this affect whether you see Halloween?
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