Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women

I didn't expect to read all this book. Released in 1992, I figured that it would be an interesting historical document but I'd eventually tire of outdated gender politics and move on, but I never did. Gripping and depressing, this book covered the world that my generation came to maturity in and I could revel in a kind of morbid nostalgia. But there was plenty to learn too - I hadnt thought about waves of emancipation and backlash, nor had I previously access to such compelling statistics and stories to illustrate the successes of both feminism and anti-feminism. Incredibly well paced and laid out, every section reveals another part of the big picture of angophonic misogyny and the hypocrisies and brutalities of the woman-hating right. show more The section where we are introduced to the men and women of the American right and how mostly they expect feminism for themselves but not other women, or tolerate feminism in their families where they deny it to others. Funny but sad. Finally we meet some women whose company forced them to get sterilised to keep their jobs, then sacked them anyway, and we learn about how justice was denied to them. It leaves you sad and angry, as it should. Of course, the people who need to read this book probably didn't read it. Really needs a 2020 update! show less

Not bailing because it's bad or not worth the read. Quite the contrary, I think this is a very important book, and I really like the way Faludi approaches the topic. But I was in college in the mid-90s, taking women's studies courses and marching in Take Back the Night rallies, and this book gets me grouchy about how slow progress is. I don't feel like being grouchy, but maybe it's a good one to show my teenager.

Frankly too depressed to read a book subtitled “the undeclared war against American women” when we are in a period of declared war against American women. This has been a long time coming and people like Faludi did their best to warn us. She brings all evidence to back her claims, but what do we do now?

First 98 pages read, interesting stuff so far, it just seems so annoying that this is still an issue, griping about stuff that I thought was done, over. Heartwarming to see proof that some of the crap I thought was crap is indeed crap. I'm giving up for now, which is why it's wishlisted because a borrower wants it and the previous reader was a smoker and my allergies are kicking in, I'll get back to it again another time and finish reading it (possible after a spell in some baking soda or cat litter or whatever to remove the smell)
You look at this book, my edition was published in 1992 and you kinda ask what relevance there is to this book, I mean it's over 20 years old, yeah, and we've learned nothing. We're revisiting the same old show more tired shite again and again, being told that feminism is over, that people are tired of hearing about it that we have equality, why are we still fighting?

Because 20 years later we still:

Have inequity in wages
Have poor representation in TV and film and if we speak out less than men in debates we're perceived as trying to dominate the conversation.
Have people try to tell us that domestic chores are innate, that we should prefer them to working out of the home
Have people say that pink is the colour we should choose
Even though, and this kinda shocked me, research in the 1970s (by John T Molloy, see pages 209-211) show that women get more respect and time in a business environment. That "dressing to succeed in business and dressing to be sexually attractive are almost mutually exclusive" and that maybe this needs updating but maybe also more choice in women's business clothing might be a good thing, that maybe dressing in the same suit for a year (with different shirts/blouses) might be accepted? That it shouldn't be a choice between 3" and 4" heels for court shoes and that "women in comfortable shoes" wouldn't be a veiled insult?
Have women giggle about how they're not good at maths because they're women.
Have girls out perform boys in STEM subjects in school but be actively discouraged from a career in these disciplines
Have a majority of doctors female but still imagery for young girls is that they're nurses, and rejection of male nursing.
The over-sexualisation of Halloween costumes for both adults and young girls (hey if you want to wear it, fine, can I have a choice too?)
Radio stations announcing that they are cutting down on female voices because people don't like them, not that they schedule them against popular choices.
Tell women that being pregnant takes their rights away (we'll delay your appeal until the baby is viable and then carve it out of you by caesarean, don't eat this food, or this one, or..); punish them if they decide to stay home for a few years to bring the baby up; blame them if they don't stay home; deny promotions because they might get pregnant and not hire them because you could "waste" money training them and then they leave to have babies.
Insist on using out dated modes of address for women in their own right, I'm not the only one who objects to being Mrs HisFirstName HisLastName on my birthday cards.

This book looks at some of the backlashes and shines a torch on them and asks why we put up with it. It induced a lot of red mist with me and made me more trenchantly feminist. I believe in equal rights. But I also believe that what we need is for everyone to have a high degree of rights rather than everyone being reduced to minimums.

So tell me, why do we? show less

I must admit that this was a difficult book for me, as a woman, to read. Written in the early 1990s, the book details the backlash against feminism in particular and women in general that characterized the 1980s. With chapters covering politics, reproductive rights, employment, fashion, academia and Hollywood, it exhaustively catalogs women's condition in late twentieth century America. Not a book to be read all at once (it's too unsettling), this is nonetheless a book that should be read. And quite probably, it should be a book read by men. Deeply thought provoking, I recommend this book to anyone interested in cultural studies or gender issues.

Only had to read the first section to be convinced that, holy crap, the eighties really were even more awful than I'd dreamed! While many of the absurd myths and trends that this book catalogues have long since passed, we still don't have important rights and benefits like paid parental leave, and people are *still* prefacing sentences with, "I'm not a feminist."

Oh, and the level of research and analysis that obviously went into this is incredibly impressive. That's why it's 460 pages long.

It's long, but don't be intimidated, because it's really, really good. Faludi details the '80s backlash against the feminist strides made in the '70s, tracing it through pop culture, journalism, government programs and more. Eminently readable, more than a little scary, and even though it's discussing the '80s, it's very relevant today. (Think about all the girl-friendly stuff going on in '90s pop culture. Then think about the Bush Administration.) Highly recommended. Great if you're already interested in feminism and gender issues, but very readable to people who are new to the subject as well.