Post Backlash Feminism

This work scrutinizes the prefix-based language of post-backlash feminism and calls for a reclamation of American feminist terminology. Questioning the merits of "Do-Me-feminism," "Eco-feminism," and "girlie," among other isms, the author argues that the proliferation of so-called "prefix feminisms" has weakened the feminist movement by narrowing its focus into shallow interpretations of a broad social and political cause. The author assesses anti-feminist media coverage, particularly following the Reagan administration and the Clinton-Lewinski affair, and concludes that efforts to reclaim a pro-woman politic must begin with reclaiming pro-woman language.

'Modern Misogyny' examines contemporary antifeminism in a 'postfeminist' era. It considers the widespread idea that the feminist movement has ended, it achieved what it set out to achieve and is irrelevant to contemporary women's lives. The book argues that equality has not been achieved and that sexism and discrimination are now packaged in a more palatable but stealthy form.

In this trenchant inquiry into the state of feminism, Angela McRobbie breaks open the politics of sexual equality and 'affirmative feminism' and sets down a new theory of gender power. Challenging the most basic assumptions of the 'end' of feminism, this book argues that invidious forms of gender re-stabilisation are being re-established. Consumer and popular culture encroach on the terrain of so-called female freedom, appearing supportive of female success, yet tying women into new post-feminist neurotic dependencies. With a scathing critique of 'women's empowerment', McRobbie has developed a distinctive feminist analysis that she uses to examine socio-cultural phenomena embedded in contemporary women's lives: from fashion photography and the television 'make-over' genre to eating disorders, body anxiety and 'illegible rage'. A turning point in feminist theory, The Aftermath of Feminism will set a new agenda for gender studies and cultural studies.

Considering the role of feminist movements in history as fundamental as much as in the current period and given the brutal attack that women’s rights are undergoing worldwide today, I wondered why feminism has grown so unpopular and, more specifically, why the mention of the word “feminism” so frequently gives rise to negative, disdainful responses. I wondered if the increasing violation of women’s rights had, to a certain extent, a connection with this feeling of detachment and rejection of feminism, which is a reality that feminists must take into consideration. I have, thus, decided to undertake an analysis of antifeminism to understand the profound reasons for this denigration and refusal.I tried to use a feminist methodological framework to select, describe and analyse the data and the literature in this book, in the belief that feminist research is a perspective in a given field of inquiry rather than a specific set of research field in itself. The book is addressed to my students and testifies to a little piece of the journey I have made with them reasoning about this and everything that has to do with freedom.

Contrary to the popular belief that feminism has gained a foothold in the many disciplines of the academy, the essays collected in Theorizing Backlash argue that feminism is still actively resisted in mainstream academia. Contributors to this volume consider the professional, philosophical, and personal backlashes against feminist thought, and reflect upon their ramifications. The conclusion is that the disdain and irrational resentment of feminism, even in higher education, amounts to a backlash against progress.

Feminist Erasures presents a collection of essays that examines the state of feminism in North America and Western Europe by focusing on multiple sites such as media, politics and activism. Through individual examples, the essays reveal the extent to which feminism has been made (in)visible and (ir)relevant in contemporary Western culture.

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.