I just finished reading BACKLASH: The War Against American women (which was freaking awesome), by Susan Faludi. It has a new forward by the author that was written in 2006 that I thought was absolutely brilliant. I also feel that it is particularly relevant in light of Sara Palin's nomination, not to mention eerily foreshadow-y:
"The very fact that women feel cheated, the very fact that, when we survey the perfumed trappings of our world, we smell, however faintly, a rat, suggests that women are still in fighting form. We aren't yet down for the count. The right wing forces understand this fact better than we do. Which is why the right elevated women in their ranks in the first place- to oppose a threat they take very seriously, the threat posed by the larger goals of feminism. Conservative politicians no longer bother to defend the old antifeminist Maginot line; they aren't trying to block women from universities, corporations, lines of credit, or representation on the republican platform committee. They have ceded that territory. And in ceding it, in accepting women into formerly forbidden precincts, they have revealed that those precincts were only frontier outposts, not the innermost fortress, the citadel that holds the key to the patriarchal status quo. That status quo would keep women, no matter how many stock options, credit cards or congressional seats or board appointments they possess, in a political stalemate. We will accept you into our world as long as you agree to accept the world as it is. The opponents of women's liberation are girding for the next assault by American women. They seem to believe it will be an assault on the world as it is. We can only hope they are right."
(I did all the bold world or umm, "Emphasis mine" oohh)
I really believe in what she's saying and feel that she is tapping into something so much more monumental than having an equal number of women and men in the senate or as CEOs. That if men and women were truly equal, if feminism, true feminism and humanism in general was spread and taught and believed and valued in actuality, then maybe those annoying dudes who always talk about the draft when arguing feminism would go away because there would be no draft- or war. i know that this is hopelessly idealistic but i do feel as if these things are connected and that the world can only become better the more feminism and humanism is embraced and practiced. i think misogyny and racism are responsible for a lot more problems than are given credit. Greed is usually blamed. but i'm sure that can be traced back to hate (racism, sexism) I just don't feel like it right now. it's all connected. i sound like a stoner. ANyhow, i'm sure once I get to college I'll be able to articulate my naive ramblings a lot better. Not as well as Susan Faludi though she's a freaking genius. And like an oracle too. THat was two years ago she wrote that! she's probably sitting at home watching SAra palin on TV llike "OMG WHAT DID I SAY??? i told you mothafuckas!!!!"
i need some sleep
i love feministing
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Haha! I love this post. Adorable.
I just finished reading "Backlash" as well. I think its like a guide that describes the modern anti-feminist climate in society and politics. I think it should be required reading for any gen y feminist. This book and "Female Chauvanist Pigs" explained plenty about our current times and feminism.
Awesome. I think every young feminist remembers her or his first "Faludi moment." It's like an overwhelming epiphany wrapped in the utter shock of "why didn't I notice this myself?" And then, you want to write a love letter---as you did, and quite well. :)!
On the note of developing articulate arguments, I'm reading a great (so far) book at the moment called "Misogyny: The World's Oldest Prejudice" by Jack Holland with the same goal in mind. From the back cover, " ... sets out to answer a daunting question: how do you explain the oppression and brutalization of half the world's population by the other half, throughout history?" It goes all the way from eighth century BC to current pro-life campaigns and is an entertaining read--no drudgery at all.
Congrats on your Faludi moment!
Oh Hells-to-the-yeah! I read that book a couple years ago and it felt like my brain and righteous indignation were growing with every page. And that new update is totally uncanny: she must have seen how we as a nation are going into extreme token-ism, the depths of which we've only recently fully realized.
Simone de Beauvoirs book, "The Second Sex" also produces a "Faludi" moment and expounds on earlier sexism that spilled into the 80s backlash.I call it a "Beauvoir" moment because thats when I had the epiphanys you had with Faludi. Beauviors insights are still relevant today and expands on more theory and analysis rather than history. However, I'm disappointed that Susan Faludi chose to write "Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man." Just like Germaine Greer, Faludi seemed to have regressed.