Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women

“Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women,” published by American journalist and feminist critic Susan Faludi in 1991, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning work that deeply analyzes the 1980s American backlash against feminist progress. This book reveals how media, culture, and politics collaborated to create the myth of “women’s unhappiness,” and is hailed as a model of feminist investigative journalism.

Faludi’s central argument is that 1980s America experienced a “backlash” against women—an undeclared war. This war was not caused by the failure of feminism; on the contrary, it was triggered by the success of feminism. When women made substantive progress in careers, education, and politics, vested interests began to feel threatened, launching a systematic counterattack to push women back into traditional subordinate positions.

Faludi analyzes in detail the media’s key role in this backlash. She notes that 1980s American media was filled with various “trend stories”—reports about “man shortages,” “infertility epidemics,” and “career burnout.” These stories all shared a common subtext: feminism made women unhappy, and women should return home and give up their careers. Through careful fact-checking, Faludi reveals the falsity of these “trends”—statistics were often distorted or fabricated to serve anti-feminist narratives.

The “man shortage” myth is one of Faludi’s key analytical focuses. In the mid-1980s, American media widely reported a study claiming that “college-educated women have a 20% chance of never marrying.” Faludi traced the source of this “study” and found it didn’t exist at all—it was a journalist’s misquote that was then amplified infinitely by the media. The purpose of this myth was to intimidate career women, making them believe that pursuing careers would lead to lonely old age.

The “infertility epidemic” is another myth debunked by Faludi. The media claimed that career women faced an “infertility crisis” due to delayed childbearing. Faludi points out that such reporting not only exaggerated the facts but also placed blame entirely on women—rather than questioning why society didn’t provide adequate childcare support, why men didn’t take on more family responsibilities. This narrative portrayed women’s career pursuits as “selfish” choices while ignoring structural barriers.

Faludi’s analysis of popular culture is equally profound. She analyzes how 1980s movies, TV shows, and advertisements shaped a “new traditionalist” female image—gentle, submissive, family-centered. From “Fatal Attraction” portraying career women as psychopaths to “The Cosby Show” idealizing stay-at-home mothers, popular culture constantly reinforced the message that “women’s place is in the home.”

Faludi also analyzes the political dimension of the backlash. She points out how the Reagan administration systematically undermined women’s economic independence and political power through cutting social services, opposing abortion rights, and opposing the Equal Rights Amendment. This political backlash reinforced media and cultural backlash, forming a web of oppression against women.

“Backlash” caused a tremendous national response after publication. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for months. This book helped many women recognize that their frustrations and anxieties were not the result of personal failure but products of systematic backlash. It also provided an intellectual foundation for the revival of feminism in the 1990s.

From a contemporary perspective, Faludi’s analysis remains strikingly relevant in the #MeToo era. The “man shortage” myth today takes the form of “leftover women” discourse in China and other Asian countries; the “infertility epidemic” has been replaced by “egg aging” anxiety; popular culture continues to portray career women as “incomplete” or “unhappy.” Faludi’s framework—redefining personal problems as political problems—remains a core tool of feminist analysis.

Faludi’s legacy lies in her demonstration of how investigative journalism can become a tool of feminist politics. She proved that rigorous fact-checking can expose ideological lies and that personal stories can reveal systematic oppression.