Cate Blanchett Explains Phyllis Schlafly's "Lonely" Anti-Feminist Crusade
FX and Hulu's new historical miniseries, Mrs. America, shines a spotlight on the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the 1970s. On the supporters' side, figures include feminist leaders like Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, Bella Abzug, and Betty Freidan. But on the opposition stands Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative leader who organized the resistance to the amendment and ultimately brought it to a standstill.
Although Schlafly's "STOP ERA" campaign was adopted and upheld by fellow housewives in branches across the country, she was the lone face of the movement, at least according to the show's portrayal. "It's interesting that in everything I read about Phyllis that for her supporters, she was a Joan of Arc figure to be admired and revered, but I didn't come across a lot of people who were very close friends with her," Cate Blanchett, who stars as Schlafly and executive produces Mrs. America, told reporters during a conference call last week.
"That might've been partly to do with her personality and it could have been partly to do with the fact that she was a mother of six and between her activism and political aspiration and the kind of engagement with her family life, that left precious little time for her to have what's traditionally called friends," Blanchett continued.
"Then you think about the feminists and you do think about them as being more of an intersected collective," the Oscar winner added, referring to Steinem, Chisholm, Azbug, and their constituents. "It was The Phyllis Schlafly Report that was the cornerstone of the traditional women's movement, which I think is very interesting and quite, quite lonely."
While researching Schlafly, who died in 2016, Blanchett referred to information about her in the public record, or books like Phyllis Schlafly Speaks, penned by the conservative leader herself, or The Sweetheart of the Silent Majority, a biography by Carol Felsenthal. However, she and show creator Dahvi Waller (Mad Men), didn't reach out to any of the living, real-life figures depicted on the show or their families. "We really wanted to be free to imagine these private conversations and not be beholden to one person's memory of what happened 40 years ago," Waller said.
In real life, Blanchett is a vocal feminist. In recent years, she's lent her voice to the Time's Up campaign and #MeToo movements, and even led a protest at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival highlighting the dearth of female directors in the event's decades-long history. Yet she was eager to portray a character—and historical figure—whose personal politics didn't align with her own.
"I’m never interested in portraying myself," the actress told Harper's BAZAAR UK last year, teasing her role in Mrs. America. "For me, selfishly, it’s always about trying to understand someone else’s perspective. Often the further from my own experience and my set of values, the more fascinating it is. And the only way we can move forward is to learn from history."
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