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Backlash

The Undeclared War Against American Women

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Backlash

By: Susan Faludi
Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed
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About this listen

A new edition of the feminist classic, with an all-new introduction exploring the role of backlash in the 2016 election and laying out a path forward for 2020 and beyond

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award • “Enraging, enlightening, and invigorating, Backlash is, most of all, true.”—Newsday

First published in 1991, Backlash made headlines and became a bestselling classic for its thoroughgoing debunking of a decadelong antifeminist backlash against women’s advances. A Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, Susan Faludi brilliantly deconstructed the reigning myths about the “costs” of women’s independence—from the supposed “man shortage” to the “infertility epidemic” to “career burnout” to “toxic day care”—and traced their circulation from Reagan-era politics through the echo chambers of mass media, advertising, and popular culture.

As Faludi writes in a new preface for this edition, much has changed in the intervening years: The Internet has given voice to a new generation of feminists. Corporations list “gender equality” among their core values. In 2019, a record number of women entered Congress. Yet the glass ceiling is still unshattered, women are still punished for wanting to succeed, and reproductive rights are hanging by a thread. This startling and essential book helps explain why women’s freedoms are still so demonized and threatened—and urges us to choose a different future.
Gender Studies Media Studies Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences Women in Business Equality

Critic Reviews

"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.

"Withering commentary... This eloquent, brilliantly argued book should be read by everyone concerned with gender equality." -- Publishers Weekly.

"Backlash is the right book at exactly the right time... This trenchant, passoinate, and lively book should be an eye-opener even for feminists who thought they understood what has been going on." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review
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