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 bestselling 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 backlash 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 backlash 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 downstream, 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.
About the Author
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.
Industry Reviews
"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
"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
"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
"Faludi argues with great passion and impressive research . . . Backlash may even be the catalyst for a new wave of activism."
--Vanity Fair
"[Backlash is] wholly convincing and more than a little alarming."
--The New Yorker
"If you believe . . . that equality if 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
"Faludi gives so many examples of reporting skewed to emphasize the adverse effects if 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
"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
"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
"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
"Smartly written, extraordinarily reported."
--M Magazine
"Thorough, carefully documented and persuasive."
--Chicago Tribune
"Enraging, enlightening, and invigorating, Backlash is, most of all, true."
--New York Newsday
"Withering commentary . . . This eloquent, brilliantly argued book should be read by everyone concerned about gender equality."
--Publishers Weekly
"Powerful and long-overdue myth-buster--an instant classic . . . Brilliant reportage . . . a stunning debut."
--Kirkus Reviews
"Fiery, scintillating . . . deserves the largest possible readership."
--Booklist
