Ayanna Pressley: Constitution is 'sexist by its very design'

Rep. Ayanna Pressley said the Constitution is “sexist by its very design” and keeps women in “shackles.”

“The American Constitution is sexist by its very design,” Pressley, a member of a group of Democratic congresswomen known as “the Squad,” said on the House floor this week.

“This country’s laws have historically treated [women] like second-class citizens, depriving us of the right to vote, enter most jobs, and to own property,” she added. “The year is 2020, and here we women are still in so many ways not fully free, still shackled.”

Pressley posted part of her speech, which was made in support of the Equal Rights Amendment being discussed in the House, on her Twitter account.

“The Constitution is sexist by design,” she tweeted. “The year is 2020 & women in this country STILL aren't considered equal to men in the eyes of the federal gov't.”

Pressley followed that post with another directed at her “sisters in service who faithfully fight for justice, fairness, and equality.”

The Massachusetts congresswoman also discussed the gender pay gap.

“In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, women are paid 83 cents for every dollar paid to a man, but nationally, women are paid only 80 cents for every dollar a man is paid," she said before explaining that the gap is even more prevalent in minority communities. "Even worse, the modern-day wage gap disproportionately impacts women of color with black women earning 61 cents, Native women earning 58 cents, Latin X women earning only 53 cents, and [Asian American and Pacific Islander] women making as little as 50 cents per dollar paid to a white man," she said.

Pressley was voicing support for a bill that would extend the deadline for states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. That bill passed in the House on Thursday by a margin of 232-183.