When TIME named American women as Women of the Year for 1975, the story declared: "It was not so much the Year of the Woman as the Year of Women--an immense variety of women altering their lives, entering new fields, functioning with a new sense of identity, integrity and confidence." Two years later, in its cover story on the National Women's Conference in Houston, TIME detected "a new-found confidence ... The women knew that their political skills were on trial, and they passed the test with flying colors." This week, in the aftermath of the defeat of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment, TIME once again gives cover treatment to what may be the most meaningful of all social changes in modern America, the new attitudes, responsibilities and goals of women. Says Senior Editor Martha Duffy, who supervised the story: "This amounts to a status report on the issue of equality for women. It concludes that while a lot of progress has been made, there is still a great distance to go."

Working on the story proved emotionally absorbing to all the journalists involved, many of whom are women. Senior Correspondent Ruth Mehrtens Galvin, who contributed to both previous covers, found the issue no less complicated than when she started reporting on the women's movement a dozen years ago. "And the emotion," she says, "is no less difficult to separate from the facts." Atlanta Correspondent Anne Constable brought to the story several years' experience covering women's issues. New York Correspondent Janice Simpson was struck by a political broadening and awakening in the movement: "I discovered that it has come to recognize the needs and desires of all kinds of women." TIME Contributor Jane O'Reilly is an expert on the subject--the author of The Girl I Left Behind. Washington's Hays Gorey admitted to "misgivings about the reception I would get since, to some activist feminists, men are suspect as objective journalists. But I encountered no formidable barriers." One singular contribution of women to the story is the artwork: the cover and all the illustrations are the work of women artists, under the direction of Deputy Art Director Irene Ramp.

Contributor Jay Cocks wrote the main story, and Staff Writer Anastasia Toufexis analyzed the defeat of the ERA. Says Cocks:

"The past decade has been a major step for ward for women, but it is only one step in a long march." In the course of the '80s, TIME'S men and women will continue to report on and assess that historic march.

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