Understanding the Backlash Against Feminism

Understanding the Backlash Against Feminism Backlash  is a negative and/or hostile reaction to an idea, especially a political idea. The term is usually used to refer to a reaction that happens after some time, as opposed to an instant negative reaction when an idea is presented. The  backlash  often occurs after the idea or event has had some popularity. The term has been applied to feminism and womens rights since about 1990. There is often perceived to be a backlash against  feminism  in U.S. politics and public media. Politics After the great successes of the  women’s liberation movement, a backlash against the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"second wave† of feminism  began during the 1970s. Social historians and  feminist theorists  see the beginning of the political  backlash  against feminism in several different events: The volatile political climate surrounding the effort to ratify the  Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)The anti-feminist groups who attacked the Supreme Court’s  Roe v. Wade  decisionThe election of  Ronald ReaganThe rise of Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority organization Media There was also a backlash against feminism found in the media: In declarations that feminism is deadIn the description of the 1980s and beyond as â€Å"post-feminist†In the narrative that treats feminism as a movement of the past rather than a  still evolving forceIn the accepted use of stereotypes of feminist women, and of women in general Feminists point out that in the late 1800s and early 1900s, powerful voices also tried to sweep  Ã¢â‚¬Å"first wave† feminism out of the public’s awareness. The publication of  Susan Faludis  Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women  in 1991 began a significant  public conversation on the fate of feminism in the 1980s. The attack on the  Equal Rights Amendment  by the New Right, especially by  Phyllis Schlafly  and her  STOP-ERA campaign, had been disappointing, but with Faludis book, other trends became more apparent to those who read her best-seller. Today Women remain underrepresented among media decision-makers, and many have looked at later trends as being part of a continuing backlash against feminism, scapegoating womens rights advocacy for not only making women unhappy but destroying masculinity. In the 1990s, legislation about welfare seemed to make poor single mothers responsible for the problems of the American family. Continuing opposition to womens reproductive rights and decision-making authority regarding birth control and abortion has been described as a war on women, echoing Faludis book title. In 2014, a media campaign, Women Against Feminism, took to social media as yet another kind of backlash against feminism. Susan Faludis  Backlash In 1991, Susan Faludi published  Ã‚  Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women.  This book examined the trend at that time, and similar backlashes in the past, to reverse womens gains in moving towards equality. The book became a best-seller. The National Books Critics Circle Award was given in 1991 to  Backlash  by Faludi. From her first chapter: Behind this celebration of the American womans victory, behind the news, cheerfully and endlessly repeated, that the struggle for womens rights is won, another message flashes. You may be free and equal now, it says to women, but you have never been more miserable. Faludi examined the inequalities that faced American women during the 1980s. Her inspiration was a Newsweek cover story in 1986 about a scholarly study, coming out of Harvard and Yale, supposedly showing that single career women had little chance of marrying. She noticed that the statistics didnt really demonstrate that conclusion, and she began noticing other media stories that seemed to show that feminist gains had actually hurt women. The womens movement, as we are told time and again, has proved womens own worst enemy. In the 550 pages of the book, she also documented the factory closings in the 1980s and the effect on blue-collar women workers. She also noted that the United States was alone among industrialized nations in not providing a system of child care, making it more difficult for women, still expected to be primary caregivers of the familys children, to enter the workforce on an equal basis to men. Despite her analysis including racial and class issues, critics have pointed out that her book largely addresses issues of middle class and successful white women. With her focus on the marriage study, critics also noted the focus on heterosexual women. She documented many ways in which the media, including advertisers, newspapers, movies, and television, blamed feminism for problems of American women and families. She showed that the common media myths of unhappy women were not accurate. The movie  Fatal Attraction  seemed to sum up the negative image of a woman. Mary Tyler Moores independent character of the 1970s had been remade into a divorcee in a new 1980s series. Cagney and Lacy was canceled because the characters didnt fit feminine stereotypes.  Fashions featured more frills and restrictive clothing. Faludis book also documented the role of the New Right, anti-feminist conservative movement, identifying itself as pro-family. The Reagan years, for Faludi, were not good ones for women.    Faludi saw the backlash as a recurring trend. She showed how each time that women seemed to make progress towards equal rights, the media of the day highlighted supposed harm to women, and at least some of the gains were reversed. Some of the negativity about feminism came from feminists: Even founding feminist Betty Friedan has been spreading the word: she warns that women now suffer from a new identity crisis and new problems that have no name. This article has been edited and content added by Jone Johnson Lewis.