Scan barcode
A review by bluejayreads
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi
5.0
This is a great book to read if you want to be angry. Because wow.
This book is about the phenomenon of backlash against women's rights. In the 70s, women's rights made huge progress, and Backlash details how society reacted to that by emotionally, economically, and politically waging war against women to try and put them back in their place.
I don't actually hate men. Men individually can be very nice. But men as an institution are absolutely horrible. This book is full of examples of men reacting to women becoming more independent with abuse, harassment, discrimination, and injustice. This is a tome of a book (nearly 600 pages) and it's just full of men's attempts to tear women down, organized by category. From the personal (rape, domestic abuse, verbal sexism, workplace harassment, etc.) to the institutional (beauty standards, hiring discrimination, discrimination in the courts, the message that women aren't worth anything unless they're mothers, and more), there's a whole massive campaign against women and women (and I'd wager most men) aren't consciously aware of it.
This is a very thoroughly journalistic work, and if you have doubts, Susan has sources. Chapter one had 7 entire pages of sources. Some of it is data from interviews and time the author spent observing the situations she writes about, and some of it is from research, but it's very well-sourced and every place she got her information is listed in the back of the book.
Even though it is focused on the 80s (the original book was published in 1991), the 2006 edition that I read had a preface with updates - but even without that, it's still incredibly relevant. It is super long, and I know a lot of people won't have the time or the perseverance to get through it (I almost didn't and I love reading), but it still makes my recommended reading list. Even if you can't get through the entire thing, just a chapter or two will help you get the picture. And if you think feminism isn't necessary anymore, this should be required reading. We've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.
This book is about the phenomenon of backlash against women's rights. In the 70s, women's rights made huge progress, and Backlash details how society reacted to that by emotionally, economically, and politically waging war against women to try and put them back in their place.
I don't actually hate men. Men individually can be very nice. But men as an institution are absolutely horrible. This book is full of examples of men reacting to women becoming more independent with abuse, harassment, discrimination, and injustice. This is a tome of a book (nearly 600 pages) and it's just full of men's attempts to tear women down, organized by category. From the personal (rape, domestic abuse, verbal sexism, workplace harassment, etc.) to the institutional (beauty standards, hiring discrimination, discrimination in the courts, the message that women aren't worth anything unless they're mothers, and more), there's a whole massive campaign against women and women (and I'd wager most men) aren't consciously aware of it.
This is a very thoroughly journalistic work, and if you have doubts, Susan has sources. Chapter one had 7 entire pages of sources. Some of it is data from interviews and time the author spent observing the situations she writes about, and some of it is from research, but it's very well-sourced and every place she got her information is listed in the back of the book.
Even though it is focused on the 80s (the original book was published in 1991), the 2006 edition that I read had a preface with updates - but even without that, it's still incredibly relevant. It is super long, and I know a lot of people won't have the time or the perseverance to get through it (I almost didn't and I love reading), but it still makes my recommended reading list. Even if you can't get through the entire thing, just a chapter or two will help you get the picture. And if you think feminism isn't necessary anymore, this should be required reading. We've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.