Anne Reed
AFA Journal staff writer
Photo above left, Cate Blanchett as Phyllis Schlafly in Mrs. America. Above right, "Phyllis Schlafly" by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
August 2020 – “It would be a shock if Hollywood were to praise a conservative!” said Anne Schlafly Cori, daughter of the late Phyllis Schlafly, on AFR’s The Hamilton Corner.
Mrs. America, a four-episode series, was released April 15 on FX on Hulu, promoted as a fresh perspective on the 10-year battle (1973-1983) surrounding the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Feminists wanted it ratified, and Schlafly fought against it.
The series is one of endless illustrations of how the leftist entertainment crowd is firmly committed to destroying the truth of all things conservative.
“They didn’t want [my input],” said Cori, chairman of Eagle Forum, the conservative, pro-family organization founded by her mother in 1972.
“The producer said she didn’t want to be distracted by the facts. She had her own message and own agenda to put across.”
Neither was Schlafly’s biographer contacted. Thus, every episode opens with a disclaimer that “some scenes and dialogue are invented for creative and story-line purposes.”
“It’s amazing that this woman who lived in a small town in the middle of the country was so powerful that Hollywood wants to rewrite history and change the meaning of her life four years after she’s dead,” Cori continued.
The untold truth
Schlafly saw the dangerous potential of the ERA in advance. By eliminating “gender-based inequality,” women would have been left unprotected against assault and without military exemptions. And traditional benefits requiring husbands to support their wives would have been a thing of the past. For Schlafly, the ERA was clearly an attack on God’s design for the family that would have cleared the path for same sex marriage and taxpayer funded abortion.
Schlafly accomplished tremendous success in her life, and her story is certainly worthy of telling. But producers of Mrs. America distorted her motives, character, marriage, and relationships with her children and others.
“They turned my father into a beast and a brute,” said Cori. “I think so many misunderstand what a beautiful marriage they had. My father fully supported my mother intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and financially. He enjoyed everything she did.”
Worthy of honor
Schlafly garnered the respect of a great many conservative leaders – male and female alike.
In a 2017 interview, AFA founder Don Wildmon reflected on Schlafly’s impact during the vicious ERA battle:
• She took on the power structure and won.
• She killed the ERA singlehandedly, she and her little band of women warriors.
• America is much better because of her.
Much of what Schlafly fought against has reentered the political sphere in a constant barrage of fiery arrows – this time from the ever-expanding quiver of the LGBTQ rights movement.
“Just think where we would be today if she had not fought,” said Wildmon.
Example to follow
Sandy Rios, host of AFR’s Sandy Rios in the Morning weighed in about her longtime friend and role model: “I don’t think Cate Blanchett or her fellow Hollywood feminists can begin to comprehend a life well-lived and savored like Phyllis’s. They can’t imagine the fulfilled life of a woman who loved her husband, her children, while caring for her home, but also for the world around her … enough to make the necessary sacrifices to try and save it.”
Phyllis Schlafly gave the pro-family movement a running start. She saw what others didn’t see, helped them see it, and inspired them to get involved and fight for their strongly held values. Her life’s work earned her the unofficial title, “First Lady of Conservatism.”
“When God made Phyllis, He broke the mold,” said Wildmon. “There will never be another like her. But she left her example, and women today can continue the fight.” 
Recommended reading
▶ Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism: A Woman’s Crusade by Donald T. Critchlow
▶ eagleforum.org
