Review: Backlash
Editorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsThe Pulitzer-winning journalist (The Wall Street Journal, Ms., The Miami Herald) explores the real status of American women in the 90's in this powerful and long-overdue myth-buster--an instant classic and a valuable companion to Paula Kamen's Feminist Fatale (reviewed below). College-educated women over 30 are more likely to be killed by a terrorist than to marry. Working women enjoy their careers at the expense of their children's welfare. If you're female, you can't really have it all. So go the modern myths that were born in the 80's, despite the era's supposedly ""liberated"" image, and that have terrorized American women ever since. The trouble, claims Faludi, is not only that the myths aren't true, but that through deliberate action or passive collusion the government, media, and popular culture have ensured their overpowering influence on the public. Her interest sparked by her discovery that the Harvard-Yale marriage-for-women-over-30 study was based on very shaky methodology, but that there was resistance in both the media and government to correcting its conclusions, Faludi went on to uncover the unacknowledged but frighteningly widespread backlash against feminism that has taken place under the surface of 80's careerism. Taking the reader step by step through the creation of wildly anti-feminist 80's myths and backlashes in popular culture (Fatal Attraction, the ""New Traditionalism,"" the new ""feminine"" fashions); in politics (reproductive rights, the female New Right); in popular psychology (""to improve your marriage, change yourself""); in the workplace (lack of day care, parental leave, the wage gap); and in health (white career women's supposed sterility vs. black women's actual, unaddressed, sterility problem), Faludi convincingly peels back layers of deliberate and passive misrepresentation to reveal what she sees as the underlying message of the Reagan-Bush era: Women's problems are a direct result of too much independence, and no one but feminists are to blame. Historically, hacklashes have always followed feminist gains, Faludi points out; the necessity is to see behind today's hip ""postfeminist"" apathy to the injustices still being done. Brilliant reportage, with all the details in place--a stunning debut.
Review: Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
User Review - GoodreadsSince I'm in the process of making my way through the feminist cannon, I couldn't skip over this book. After reading it, I went back and re-read Amanda Marcotte's post on it in which she pointed out ...
Review: Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
User Review - Anna Edwards - GoodreadsThis was my first introduction to feminist theory. Faludi's book was a gateway to other great feminist text (especially The Second Sex). For that, I will always be thankful. Her analysis is spot on and for the most part, still relavent. Thank you Susan. You changed my life. Read full review
Review: Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
User Review - GoodreadsSo I just read Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, by Susan Faludi. I had this book on my list because I considered it required reading for anyone who wants to understand the current ...
Review: Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
User Review - Eddy Allen - GoodreadsSkillfully Probing the Attack on Women's Rights “Opting-out,” “security moms,” “desperate housewives,” “the new baby fever”—the trend stories of 2006 leave no doubt that American women are still ... Read full review
Review: Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
User Review - Leila - GoodreadsThis book helped me through some rough parts of fading youth--and in the notorious 90s, when many of the men around me seemed hostile and aggressive. It's still an important social document ... Read full review
Review: Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
User Review - Tina - GoodreadsThought of this book when I heard Todd Akin's remark about "legitimate rape." Her description of the woman denied abortion when her life wa threatened, still nightmare material. Read full review
Review: Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
User Review - Eileen - GoodreadsThis bb book is twenty years old, and still relevant, especially this year with all the anti abortion legislation that went through state legislatures. Read full review
Review: Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
User Review - Cindy Breeding - GoodreadsThis is a demanding read, even if it is wonderfully written. Faludi crafts her scenes expertly, with anecdotes supporting her claims about the forces working against American women. Everything from ... Read full review
Review: Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
User Review - Chris - GoodreadsOkay I can't really write a review because it seems like everything Faludi talked about is happening again. I need to buy an island. Read full review
