Phyllis McAlpin Schlafly (; nee Stewart;
Schlafly focused political opposition to the ERA in defense of traditional gender roles, such as only men fighting in war. That the equal rights amendment would eliminate the men-only draft and guarantee the possibility that women would be equally subject to conscription and be required to serve in combat; that defense of traditional gender roles proved a useful tactic. In Illinois, the anti-ERA activists used traditional symbols of the American housewife, and took homemade foods (bread, jams, apple pies, etc.) to the state legislators, with the slogans, "Preserve us from a congressional jam; Vote against the ERA sham" and "I am for Mom and apple pie." The historian Lisa Levenstein said that, in the late 1970s, the feminist movement briefly attempted a program to help older divorced and widowed women. Many widows were ineligible for Social Security benefits, few divorcees received alimony, and, after a career as a housewife, few had any work skills with which to enter the labor force. The program, however, encountered sharp criticism from young activists who gave priority to poor minority women rather than to middle-class women. By 1980, NOW downplayed the program, as they focused almost exclusively on ratification of the ERA. Schlafly moved into the political vacuum, and denounced the feminists for abandoning older, middle-class widows and divorcees in need, and warned that the ERA would equalize the laws for the benefit of men, stripping legal protections that older women urgently needed. Schlafly said the ERA was designed for the benefit of young career women, and warned that if men and women had to be treated equally, that social condition would threaten the security of middle-aged housewives without job skills. That the ERA would repeal legal protections, such as alimony, and eliminate the judicial tendency for divorced mothers to receive custody of their children. Schlafly's argument that protective laws would be lost resonated with working-class women.

Q: what did Phyllis have to do with the Equal Rights Amendment?
A: That the equal rights amendment would eliminate the men-only draft and guarantee the possibility that women would be equally subject to conscription and be required to serve in combat;

Q: how did she oppose it?
A: used traditional symbols of the American housewife, and took homemade foods (bread, jams, apple pies, etc.) to the state legislators,

Q: why did she want to oppose ERA?
A: would eliminate the men-only draft and guarantee the possibility that women would be equally subject to conscription and be required to serve in combat;
How else did she oppose ERA?
Schlafly said the ERA was designed for the benefit of young career women, The historian Lisa Levenstein said that, in the late 1970s, the feminist movement briefly attempted a program to help older divorced and widowed women. warned that the ERA would equalize the laws for the benefit of men, stripping legal protections that older women urgently needed. Schlafly said the ERA was designed for the benefit of young career women,
Schlafly said the ERA was designed for the benefit of young career women,