I am 61 years old, a Washington DC native living in France since college days. I recall all those moments in the 1960s and 70s when as a young girl, I saw my mother and her friends becoming empowered, heard songs like "I AM WOMAN" and learned of the fight for the ERA. I recall also the Phyllis Schafly -led struggles against ERA and the sense of confusion and oppression that produced. My working mother and all her friends were rising in confidence and power, and there was that lady arguing that they should literally put on their frilly aprons and wait for their husbands to come home. I understood, taking all this in, that there is a struggle in society between different views of what is good or bad, right or wrong. I understood, bit by bit, that what tends to give more power to more citizens to choose their life and integrate society, is on the side of good and right. For me, ERA meant that it is POSSIBLE to challenge the status quo and POSSIBLE to join society as a full-fledged citizen. These power struggles of the 70s truly formed my perceptions - even if I am by no means a revolutionary. There have been so many advances in helping more people become full citizens in our land. Let's show now, at last, that POSSIBLE is REAL, and that women of all backgrounds and creeds can step up as equals to serve and to improve our American society.