Backlash by Susan Faludi
"Backlash" by Susan Faludi explores the societal reaction to the feminist movement's advances during the 1960s and 1970s, particularly during the 1980s in North America. Faludi argues that this backlash emerged as a response to the perception that women had achieved significant equality, yet it posited that these gains were exaggerated. She provides a critical examination of various studies from that era, such as the "man shortage" and "infertility epidemic," which she contends misrepresented women's realities and reinforced antifeminist sentiments. The book highlights a shift in media portrayals, where strong female characters transitioned to traditional roles as homemakers, while working mothers were depicted negatively. Faludi critiques the fashion industry for promoting a "feminine" aesthetic that emphasized youthfulness and submissiveness. She also addresses the detrimental effects of this backlash on women's lives, including increased domestic violence, job discrimination, and challenges to reproductive rights. "Backlash" serves as both a historical analysis and a commentary on the persistent obstacles faced by women in their pursuit of equality.
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Backlash by Susan Faludi
First published: 1991
The Work
The thesis of Backlash is that in the 1980’s North American society reacted vigorously to take back the gains made by the women’s movement during the previous decades. According to Susan Faludi’s meticulously documented work, the backlash phenomenon has followed each era of women’s advances throughout history. The 1980’s reaction followed the perception that women had made giant strides toward equality during the 1960’s and 1970’s, but that this equality had created two generations of miserable women. Faludi holds that these perceived gains were much inflated. She indicates that 75 percent of women workers made less than $20,000 a year, that the average female college graduate earned less than her male same-age counterpart with a high school diploma and that most women still worked in traditionally female jobs.
The author refutes a number of “statistical” studies widely publicized during the 1980’s. These include the much-touted “man shortage,” which documented the meager-to-nil chance of older college-educated women for marriage. Less publicized than the fallacious man shortage was the work of other scholars whose scrutiny of the original study revealed flaws in its methods and models. The book further demonstrates the error of other studies: the “infertility epidemic” and the depression and increased suicide rates attributed to intense career pursuit.
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, the media downplayed the women’s movement, with some few exceptions. The media settled comfortably, however, into the backlash in the 1980’s, reinforcing the tenets of the antifeminists. The book points out films’ portrayal of strong women primarily as wives and mothers, while single career women are sadistic destroyers of the family, a full turnabout from the films of the 1970’s.
Faludi indicts television also for its move away from portrayal of strong independent women to the happy homemaker. The trend on TV shows in the 1980’s was toward patriarchal families and stay-at-home mothers. Working mothers, Faludi says, were portrayed as miserable neurotics, negligent of their children.
The fashion world took a similar path toward “feminizing” its models with little girl and baby doll looks that featured flounces and petticoats. In addition, the beauty industry bombarded women with products and cosmetic surgery techniques that focused on the appearance of women. Despite claims that these trends in the media and fashion were what women wanted, the facts, according to the author, indicate that women rejected them.
One chapter of Backlash focuses on those the author sees as perpetrating the backlash: the New Right, George Gilder, Robert Bly, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, and Michael Levin. The effects of the backlash on women, according to Faludi, are domestic violence, ambivalence about identity, job discrimination, and denial of reproductive rights.
Bibliography
Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1953. One of the earliest works of modern feminist literature, French writer Beauvoir’s look at the secondary status of women enjoyed renewed popularity during the women’s movement.
Fraser, Antonia. The Weaker Vessel. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984. An intriguing perspective on women’s issues is offered by Fraser’s examination of women’s lives in the seventeenth century. A surprisingly diverse collection of portraits emerges.
French, Marilyn. The War Against Women. New York: Summit Books, 1992. This book offers a historical examination of women’s repression. French explores, from a feminist perspective, the traditional treatment of women socially, politically, economically, and culturally.
Friedan, Betty. It Changed My Life. New York: W. W. Norton, 1985. This collection of Friedan’s writings over three decades provides an overview of the evolution of feminism from the perspective of the woman sometimes referred to as the “mother” of women’s liberation.
Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: W. W. Norton, 1973.
Friedan, Betty. The Second Stage. New York: Summit Books, 1981.
Kauffman, Linda S., ed. American Feminist Thought at Century’s End: A Reader. Cambridge, Mass.: Basil Blackwell, 1993. As its title suggests, the book contains a collection of recent writings by feminist leaders and scholars. Its topics range from political activism to women’s sexuality.
Steinem, Gloria. Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1983.
Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. New York: William Morrow, 1991. This best-selling book examines the ways in which modern society and popular culture put pressure on women to conform to an unattainable standard of beauty.