Book: Backlash

Backlash (Susan Faludi) is a long and not particularly easy read. Written in response to the Reagan administration’s assault on women’s rights (originally published in 1991), it was reissued in 2020 as history repeated itself.

Two recurring themes in the book. First, the way that the data did not at all align with what was being written about women in the media. Second, the hypocrisy of so many who proclaimed to know what women want. I enjoyed both of these, but it does add to my confusion about how little fact checking goes on.

“Trend journalists in the ‘80s were not required to present facts for the same reason that ministers aren’t expected to support sermons with data. The reporters were scripting morality plays, not news stories, in which the middle-class woman played the Christian innocent, led astray by a feminist serpent. In the final scene, the woman had to pay—repenting of her ambitions and “selfish” pursuit of equality—before she could reclaim her honor and her happiness.”

Since November, I’ve been wondering why so many white women vote against their own interests, and I thought this book would provide some answers. The short answer, I understand, is “racism”. I wanted a longer one – what is the narrative? What is the belief system? Ultimately in as much as I understand those things better after reading this book, it is simply that the rules they don’t apply the rules the put forward to themselves. That some women have so little imagination that they would sooner be fembots of the patriarchy rather than support a different world, even if that different world aligns better with the way they personally (want to) live.

The final chapter, on women’s reproductive rights, is particularly eye opening. It explains the history behind why women in the USA have so little access to reproductive health care. It also covers a truly horrifying story of some women who, trying to support their families, were forced to “choose” between getting sterilized and keeping their employment.

All in all, if you’re trying to understand the current state of affairs, this book provides useful context. And, I guess, some modicum of hope – the situation in the 80s sounds pretty dire for women in the USA, but prior to 2016 much progress had been made. That such progress will have to be made again seems inevitable.