Analysis Of The Backlash Against Feminism By Susan Faludi

Roxane Gay, author of the article entitled “Bad Feminist”, is a very accomplished American feminist writer. Her publication of “Bad Feminist” in 2012 gained national public attention (1). Feminism, as defined in the dictionary, is “the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes” (2), but Gay explains throughout her article that being a feminist is not just as simple as agreeing with this need for gender equality. The feminist label is too narrow and because of this the feminist movement is breaking apart. In this piece, Gay addresses how our society currently defines feminism and explains why this definition does not encompass everybody that it should.

A feminist lens looks at the relationships between men and women. It specifically focuses on the portrayal of women within the work of literature. It attempts to analyze how women have been affected by men and their actions. It not only works to show how women have been marginalized and suppressed by society, but also how they have been privileged. However, a “feminist lens” mustn't solely focus on femininity. It also examines the role of “masculinity” in the portrayal of men .The “feminist lens” accomplishes all of this in the pursuit of analyzing gender boundaries and norms (Delahoyde 1).

Usually, those ‘power structures amongst men’ are conveyed through the racial and class vocabularies, but the article criticizes the limitation of such approach. Yes, I understand that why there should be a ‘common masculinity’ interpretation; however, this approach fosters the additive approach which sees race, ethnicity, sexuality and class as separate entities which exist on top of masculinity. The first and second wave feminism was criticized severely for such analyses by the third wave feminists, and as a third wave feminist, I also want to do the

The modern definition of feminism: “an ideology that, in its most basic form, directly opposes sexism by supporting gender equality and portraying women and men as equal.” (Finsterbusch 59). This definition was the early direction towards treating women like human beings rather than a housebound body, and this is why feminism should not be viewed as a harmful ideology. By exemplifying the importance of the ideology of feminism, by refuting those who claim that women have used feminism to exploit their personal wants and desires, and by presenting women’s first hand encounters of inequality, case studies, sound arguments and documented research one will be persuaded that the ideology of feminism is not discrimination towards men, but rather an encouragement for a woman’s rights and equality.

“ASKING THE MAN QUESTION: MASCULINITIES ANALYSIS AND FEMINIST THEORY.” Journal of Law & Gender (2010): 415-430. Print. This journal consists of 15 pages that suggest that there is a price to having the privilege of being a man. The first section explains how men are suffering because their problems are being ignored because they are privileged.

The bestselling author and journalist, Susan Faludi, wrote a book called Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women. Her book focuses on the progression of feminism, crushing myths in the media, and the statistical realities of women 's stance in this world (Faludi 2). “Feminism can be defined as the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social and economic equality to men” (Oxford

The bestselling author and journalist, Susan Faludi, wrote a book called Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women. Her book focuses on the progression of feminism, crushing myths in the media, and the statistical realities of women 's stance in this world (Faludi 2). “Feminism can be defined as the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social and

In the essay, “Bad Feminist,” by english professor and novelist, Roxane Gay, examines the “myth” of “essential feminism,”which means that there are right and wrong ways to being a feminist. Through her own personal experiences as a feminist, she argues the expectations, and labeling due to cultural stereotypes for not living up to feminist ideals. She claims that there is no certain way to being a feminist. Throughout her essay, Roxanne does an astonishing job at appealing to her audience with strong, emotional context by going into detail with her own thoughts are about feminism. Also, her references such as, popular magazines,

As a result of the abuse female characters have faced, it has become an objective for authors to prevent this. There have been clear strides recently, putting women as the protagonists, and not in a manner that has them dealing with persecution. The amount of strong, female characters is a large stride in the right direction to end the conflict regarding women’s roles in literature. However, this sudden influx of women in literature may lead to the reversal of the issue; the absence or abuse of men. While certainly literary equality is the end goal, to flip the issue would be just as bad and lead to sexism on the opposite spectrum. To truly mend the rift between genders, there must be no discrimination, the idea that an author is trying to use sexist undertones by not writing the lead as a female should not have to be an idea that readers think about when analyzing modern books. While even still there are issues of gender inequality in literature, there must be moderation from both ends for a resolution to be possible. The only way for equality to be achieved is with the absence of sexist ideals from all

In his article, “Why Men Have a Problem with the Word ‘Feminism’”, author Martin Daubney explains how he doesn’t clearly like the word feminism. Though he believes in what the word stands for, equality and freedom of choice, irrespective of gender, sexuality or race, he is repulsed by the word feminists. This is because of how the word is perceived; the word feminism now tends to symbolize an aura of negativity. The reasons behind the negativity are the acts of the radical feminists. “All men are rapists”, that statement was supposedly said once but as is can’t be taken back it is all that the men tends to remember. What was supposed to be a positive message for the benefit of mankind became a word that gives people a personal bad attitude.

"When describing women, language tends to be gendered and loaded with connotations that are often unhelpful. At work, women are more likely to have assessments that label them bossy or aggressive. The blokes would be called go-getters." (Stamp,2017). This quote is successful in conveying the bias towards that of the male gender as well as depicting women as 'victims' without any consideration to how men are treated in the work place. During the interview conducted, when asked the question "What is your opinion on the feminism movement today?", A 17 year old male replied with "My opinion is that they should continue to fight for equal rights, but those who hate men and think they're above others should stop.". This answer shows how a member

Feminist criticism scrutinizes the ways in which literature reinforces or undermines the economic, politic, social and psychological oppression of women. One of the tools used

Feminist theory analyzes the gender inequality that women have faced throughout the years due to a patriarchal society. Women were expected to fit the traditional female and conform to the gender norms that society has constructed. According to A Brief Introduction to Critical Theory, “Feminism embodies a way of reading that investigates the text’s investment in or reaction to the patriarchal power structures that have dominated Western culture” (227). Patriarchal power has oppressed women economically, socially, and politically. Women were associated more with domesticity than with politics and financial situations. They were not provided the same educational opportunities as men. These issues have been addressed by people, such as Mary

Through the use of empathetic language rather than anger,the well known-award winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was able to capture and represent her personal ideas to those who haven 't been exposed to feminism and to those who constantly slanders it.In her twenty-first century short essay,We Should All Be Feminists,Adiche addresses feminism and sexism as unsettling issues that all of humanity should be majorily concerned and aware with.She prosposes a solution to the detrimental and negative cyclical persectives that society has imposed on of feminists and women in general based on her previous experiences.By narrowing in on her very own life experiences and her deep understanding of the often covered up realities of the treatment of women and their reputations,she zeros in on what it means to be a woman in the present day, exposes the injustices they frequently ecounter and ultimately explains why we should all be feminists.She focuses on the idea the everyone including both men and women are both the problem and solution to the controverisal and sensetive topic of what is called feminism.By taking these necessary steps and raising our children to understand these steps , Adichie proposes this can finally end the cyclical problem.

In 1990 Judith Butler first published her book Gender Troubles, where she questions gender roles. Butler theorizes that gender, as in male and female, is a type of societal/gender colonialism created to keep people who do not fall within the gender roles from being part of the mainstream society. In her 1999 preface, in which she addresses the impact her book had in the decade since its original publication, Butler expresses the concern she had with the “heterosexual assumption in feminist literary theory (61).” Butler utilizes the works of other feminist philosophers to further demonstrate the inconsistency, and disconnect between fighting for women rights and fighting for human rights. Judith Butler makes an interesting argument on the failure to recognize the spectrum of gender, however, she makes a compelling argument on the use of language perpetuating a patriarchal society.