Backlash
Susan Faludi
Here is the first non-fiction book I have read in quite a while. I have strayed a bit from the genre as it is usually dull and self-important. I initially held this opinion of Backlash as well, but I warmed up a bit to its mechanical prose after the first mind-bogglingly terrible chapter and managed to digest its arguments and positions with only mild skepticism. Faludi's main contention in the book is that the 1980s had been a decade of a widespread, multifaceted backlash against women and the feminism of the 1970s. Her introduction makes her thesis quite clear, and though it is a bit militant at times, it is consistent throughout the book. Unfortunately, this claim is somewhat untenable and makes for rather inciting reading at times; it seems as though Faludi is suggesting a conspiracy of men determined to scale back women's rights, and I don't believe her evidence quite supports this contention. The stories she does provide, however, are often touching and do help her make her case that strides in women's rights are followed by periods of turn-back-the-clock conservatism.
If you can pass through the first statistics-laden chapter without losing interest or consciousness, the book becomes quite interesting. Faludi effectively sprinkles in anecdotal evidence with figures that contradict those of the establishment. She is unabashadly unafraid of conflict and is willing to castigate public figures far and wide. While this somewhat militant technique works brilliantly in the vast majority of cases, it is too often employed in unsubstantiated claims that come off as whiny and unsophisticated. If Faludi would stick to specific cases and the stories of people she personally interviewed, omitting her snide remarks about President Reagan (however backlash he may have been- Faludi attacks him far too often without ever expanding on the theme) would have greatly strengthened her credibility. Her pen, however, probes deeply and delightfully when she is able to turn backlash leaders into the feminists whom they despise. Faludi doesn't even need to spin these cases to make them resonate, and her sly humor is well-employed when pointing out how various anti-feminist female icons have traded their careers in for time with their family- and how anti-feminist men often find themselves at home sharing in household chores.
Ultimately, the book's biggest flaws are its vehemence and its dullness. I have come to expect more lively and autobiographical accounts from feminist literature, even serious statistical feminist literature, but this book lacked that. Perhaps I was unfair, but the fact remains that I viewed this book as more of a burden than a pleasure to read, which of course detracts from its effectiveness. What is particularly good about the book is that it still feels relevant fifteen years after its publication. It is a book about the 1980s, and though I itched to know how some of the trends Faludi described managed to pan out in the 90s, the book doesn't feel dated any more than it is naturally by the fact that it is about a single decade. Backlash is an interesting and complex account of anti-feminist and, arguably, anti-female sentiments during the 80s and it covers its decade comprehensively. The only major topics really untouched in the book are music and lesbianism, both of which I would have liked to see out of personal bias.
The exclusion of these two domains, however, is acceptable and the only real reason they seem missing to me is probably a personal wish to see them covered. The book is incredibly comprehensive and does travel from the news media to entertainment to fashion to scholarship and even to the federal government. Faludi is nothing if not scathing, and if this makes the book burdensome at times, it at least makes the book more than the drab statistical analylsis suggested by the first chapter. Though I had my moments with this book, by the end it had made a deep imprint on me and its final chapter almost moved me to tears. Faludi has put together a book that passes at least a skeptical glance and that can inspire fire in readers despite its literary flaws and occasional over-excitement. Backlash is a useful book for understanding anti-feminist currents of the 1980s and is a good enough book for those interested in the topic.
Grade: B
Susan Faludi
Here is the first non-fiction book I have read in quite a while. I have strayed a bit from the genre as it is usually dull and self-important. I initially held this opinion of Backlash as well, but I warmed up a bit to its mechanical prose after the first mind-bogglingly terrible chapter and managed to digest its arguments and positions with only mild skepticism. Faludi's main contention in the book is that the 1980s had been a decade of a widespread, multifaceted backlash against women and the feminism of the 1970s. Her introduction makes her thesis quite clear, and though it is a bit militant at times, it is consistent throughout the book. Unfortunately, this claim is somewhat untenable and makes for rather inciting reading at times; it seems as though Faludi is suggesting a conspiracy of men determined to scale back women's rights, and I don't believe her evidence quite supports this contention. The stories she does provide, however, are often touching and do help her make her case that strides in women's rights are followed by periods of turn-back-the-clock conservatism.
If you can pass through the first statistics-laden chapter without losing interest or consciousness, the book becomes quite interesting. Faludi effectively sprinkles in anecdotal evidence with figures that contradict those of the establishment. She is unabashadly unafraid of conflict and is willing to castigate public figures far and wide. While this somewhat militant technique works brilliantly in the vast majority of cases, it is too often employed in unsubstantiated claims that come off as whiny and unsophisticated. If Faludi would stick to specific cases and the stories of people she personally interviewed, omitting her snide remarks about President Reagan (however backlash he may have been- Faludi attacks him far too often without ever expanding on the theme) would have greatly strengthened her credibility. Her pen, however, probes deeply and delightfully when she is able to turn backlash leaders into the feminists whom they despise. Faludi doesn't even need to spin these cases to make them resonate, and her sly humor is well-employed when pointing out how various anti-feminist female icons have traded their careers in for time with their family- and how anti-feminist men often find themselves at home sharing in household chores.
Ultimately, the book's biggest flaws are its vehemence and its dullness. I have come to expect more lively and autobiographical accounts from feminist literature, even serious statistical feminist literature, but this book lacked that. Perhaps I was unfair, but the fact remains that I viewed this book as more of a burden than a pleasure to read, which of course detracts from its effectiveness. What is particularly good about the book is that it still feels relevant fifteen years after its publication. It is a book about the 1980s, and though I itched to know how some of the trends Faludi described managed to pan out in the 90s, the book doesn't feel dated any more than it is naturally by the fact that it is about a single decade. Backlash is an interesting and complex account of anti-feminist and, arguably, anti-female sentiments during the 80s and it covers its decade comprehensively. The only major topics really untouched in the book are music and lesbianism, both of which I would have liked to see out of personal bias.
The exclusion of these two domains, however, is acceptable and the only real reason they seem missing to me is probably a personal wish to see them covered. The book is incredibly comprehensive and does travel from the news media to entertainment to fashion to scholarship and even to the federal government. Faludi is nothing if not scathing, and if this makes the book burdensome at times, it at least makes the book more than the drab statistical analylsis suggested by the first chapter. Though I had my moments with this book, by the end it had made a deep imprint on me and its final chapter almost moved me to tears. Faludi has put together a book that passes at least a skeptical glance and that can inspire fire in readers despite its literary flaws and occasional over-excitement. Backlash is a useful book for understanding anti-feminist currents of the 1980s and is a good enough book for those interested in the topic.
Grade: B
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