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THE 15th ANNIVERSARY EDITION The Undeclared War Against American Women s WITH A NEW PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR SOCIAL SCIENCE—WOMEN'S STUDIES SKILLFULLY 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 being barraged by the same backlash messages that Susan Faludi brilliantly exposed in her 1991 best- selling book of revelations. Now, the book that reignited the feminist movement is back in a fifteenth anniversary edition, with a new preface by the author that brings back lash consciousness up to date. When it was first published, Backlash made headlines for puncturing such favorite media myths as the "infertility epidemic" and the "man shortage," myths that defied statistical realities. These willfully fictitious media campaigns added up to an antifeminist backlash. Whatever progress feminism has recently made, Faludi's words today seem prophetic. The media still love stories about stay-at-home moms and the "dangers" of women's career ambitions; the glass ceiling is still low; women are still punished for wanting to succeed; basic reproductive rights are still hanging by a thread. The back lash clearly exists. With passion and precision, Faludi shows in her new preface how the creators of commercial culture distort feminist concepts to sell products while selling women down stream, how the feminist ethic of economic independence is twisted into the consumer ethic of buying power, and how the feminist quest for self-determination is warped into a self-centered quest for self-improvement. Backlash is a classic of feminism, an alarm bell for women of every generation, reminding us of the dangers that we still face. A former Wall Street Journal reporter, SUSAN FALUDI won the Pulitzer Prize in 1991 for explanatory journalism and the National Book Critics' Circle award for Backlash. She is the author of Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man, which was published in 1999, and has written for many publications, including The New Yorker, The Nation, Newsweek, and the New York Times. "Faludi uses her dazzling investigative powers to zap the smug detractors of feminism, the hypocrites, backsliders, and antifeminists. The result is a rich and juicy read, informed by powerful logic and moral clarity." —BARBARA EHRENREICH, AUTHOR OF NICKEL AND DIMED U.S. $14.95 / $21.00 CAN COVER DESIGN: Jane Palecek SOCIAL SCIENCE—WOMEN'S STUDIES/FEMINISM I H It I I RIVERS PRESS New York www .i rownpublishing.com ACCLAIM FOR Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women "As groundbreaking ... as its two important predecessors, Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex and Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique . . . gripping." —LAURA SHAPIRO, Newsweek "Fiery, scintillating . . . deserves the largest possible readership." —Booklist "A landmark book."—San Diego Union "Spellbinding and frightening, this book is a wake-up call to the men as well as the women who are struggling to build a gender-respectful society." —ROBERT REICH, author of The Work of Nations "Powerful and long-overdue myth-buster—an instant classic. . . . Brilliant reportage ... a stunning debut." —Kirkus Reviews "Thorough, carefully documented and persuasive." —Chicago Tribune "Enraging, enlightening, and invigorating, Backlash is, most of all, true."—New York Newsday "Faludi argues with great passion and impressive research. . . . Backlash may even be the catalyst for a new wave of activism." —Vanity Fair "The backlash against women is real. This is the book we need to help us understand it, to struggle through the battle fatigue, and to keep going." —ALICE WALKER "Thought-provoking, inspiring, and truly groundbreaking, Backlash is a must-read for women across the nation." —ELEANOR SMEAL, President, The Fund for the Feminist Majority "Faludi gives so many examples of reporting skewed to emphasize the adverse effects of independence and nontraditional roles for women, when ample evidence exists that such effects are often transitory, that one is left with no doubt that she is right." —DIANE JOHNSON, The New York Review of Books il[Backlash is] wholly convincing and more than a little alarming." —The New Yorker "Withering commentary . . . This eloquent, brilliantly argued book should be read by everyone concerned about gender equality." —Publishers Weekly "Smartly written, extraordinarily reported." —M magazine "Backlash is a crucial book on a crucial subject. With great insight and wit, Faludi identifies the obstacles to women's equality and directs us toward more promising responses." —DEBORAH L. RHODE, Professor of Law, Stanford Law School, and former Director, Institute on Women and Gender, Stanford "If you believe . . . that equality is good for women, and that traditional gender roles are mandated unfairly by culture, not nature, you'll find this book a valuable resource." —WENDY KAMINER, The Atlantic Backlash The Undeclared War Against American Women Susan Faludi THREE (\IVEI\i PRE55 NEV YORK Copyright © 1991 by Susan Faludi Preface copyright © 2006 by Susan Faludi All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. www.crownpublishing.com Three Rivers Press and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. The publisher gratefully acknowledges permission to reprint lines from The Man in the Black Coat Turns, published by Dial/Doubleday Press, New York, in 1981, copyright © 1981 by Robert Bly. Reprinted by permission of the author. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Faludi, Susan. Backlash: the underclared war against American women/by Susan Faludi. —1st Three Rivers Press ed. Originally published: New York: Crown, © 1991. Includes biographical references and index. 1. Feminism—United States. 2. Feminism—United States—Public opinion. 3. Public opinion—United States. 4. Women—United States—Social conditions. 5. Women—Psychology. I. Title. HQ1426.F35 1992 305.42'0973—dc20 92-22416 ISBN-13: 978-0-307-34542-4 ISBN-10: 0-307-34542-4 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21 First Three Rivers Press Edition my mother, Marilyn Lanning Faludi Contents Preface to the Fifteenth Anniversary Edition ix 1 Introduction: Blame It on Feminism 1 PART ONE – Myths and Flashbacks 2 Man Shortages and Barren Wombs: The Myths of the Backlash 19 3 Backlashes Then and Now 61 PART TWO – The Backlash in Popular Culture 4 The "Trends" of Antifeminism: The Media and the Backlash 89 5 Fatal and Fetal Visions: The Backlash in the Movies 125 6 Teen Angels and Unwed Witches: The Backlash on TV 153 7 Dressing the Dolls: The Fashion Backlash 181 8 Beauty and the Backlash 211 PART THREE – Origins of a Reaction: Backlash Movers, Shakers, and Thinkers 9 The Politics of Resentment: The New Right s War on Women 241 10 Ms. Smith Leaves Washington: The Backlash in National Politics 269 viii Contents 11 The Backlash Brain Trust: From Neocons to Neofems 293 George Gilder: "America's Number-One Antifeminist" 295 Allan Bloom: A Refugee from the Feminist Occupation 302 Michael and Margarita Levin: Boys Don't Cook and Girls Don't Do Long Division 307 Warren Farrell: The Liberated Man Recants 311 Robert Bly: Turning "Yogurt Eaters" into "Wild Men" 316 Sylvia Ann Hewlett: The Neofeminist's Lesser Work 324 Betty Friedan: Revisionism as a Marketing Tool 329 Carol Gilligan: Different Voices or Victorian Echoes? 336 PART FOUR – Backlashings: The Effects on Women's Minds, Jobs, and Bodies 12 It's All in Your Mind: Popular Psychology Joins the Backlash 345 13 The Wages of the Backlash: The Toll on Working Women 373 14 Reproductive Rights Under the Backlash: The Invasion of Women's Bodies 409 Epilogue 461 Notes 467 Acknowledgments 563 Index 565