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Susan Faludi argues that there has been a sustained ‘backlash’ against the advances of second-wave feminism; conversely, Astrid Henry posits that American women confidently embody a ‘third wave’ of feminist politics. Can the both be right? You should illustrate your answer with specific examples. In order to discuss whether a new wave of feminism is currently going on, and whether or not this can or cannot exist with a backlash to the previous wave of feminism, it is important to look at this previous wave of feminism in its relation to the so called third wave, and the backlash that resulted from it.
From examining the political and media backlash, from President Regan and benefit cuts to films such as Fatal Attraction, I will look at its effects on feminism and where, or if, it stands in relation to a new wave of feminism, epitomised ???according to Astrid Henry- in the hit television series Sex and the City. The second wave of feminism was concerned with political action and gaining women’s rights. At a time when there was very little equality between the sexes, both in the home and the working world, women campaigned to be allowed the same basic rights as men.
Instead of following the traditional route of domesticity and motherhood, women campaigned to get equal rights for women in the working world and to have their voice recognised. However, in the 1980s, a backlash directed at that which women had been fighting for emerged in society, brought on by the media and politics. This backlash is vital to the formation of the third wave of feminism. As Cathryn Bailey points out, a ‘wave’ is something that happens in succession, and is both similar and different from the other occurrences .
She argues that waves often overlap, and that this is the case with second and third wave feminism, which make the backlash directly relevant to the two cases. Susan Faludi writes that the backlash has demonstrated women as depressed, lonely and miserable because of the freedom they have achieved. She argues that, according to feminist backlash, ‘it must be all that equality that’s causing all that pain. Women are unhappy precisely because they are free. ‘ The second wave of feminism, which according to general backlash consensus of the time, has provided women with the equality that they so desired, but hey have not been left satisfied. No, the women’s movement has in fact ‘proved women’s own worst enemy’ , and because of their own overwhelming desire to have a career and be free, they have been left without a man, the one thing that they really desire, upon which their happiness rests ??? men. Faludi’s argument is that this belief that women are now simply unsatisfied with what they have achieved, is male backlash to women beginning to have a voice. Her case is convincing, with her overwhelming arguments that demonstrate the ever present inequality of women.
She discloses in ‘minute and often chilling detail the reverses suffered by women’ . There are indeed many right wing critics of Faludi, but her overwhelming facts override critics and it is hard not to be swayed by her argument that something undeniable has happened to the work of the second wave feminists. Politically, Faludi chronicles the injustices set out by the conservatives an John Major, but even more so by American President Ronal Regan, and those who worked under him.
Indeed, a sheriff from California claimed the that women’s liberty was to blame for them committing more crimes, and a commission suggested that women, now having won their liberty, have more opportunity to be raped. Indeed, one of the main things attributed to the failure of feminism by those involved in the backlash was the destabilisation of family life and family values. Single women cannot cope on their own. However, as Faludi brings to our attention, there is no mention of the lack of funding and benefit cuts put in place, or the lack of childcare programmes.
This backlash was also demonstrated undeniably in the media and Hollywood. Michael Douglas, an actor whose name became synonymous with the struggling white male in 1980s cinema, is responsible for portraying on more than one occasion a man attacked by the savagery of the feminist woman. Two of the most prominent films, Fatal Attraction and Disclosure, in fact, have very similar storylines. Disclosure is the story of a good, honest, hard working family man who very nearly has his career destroyed by Demi Moore’s character, Meredith. Meredith is a typical demonstration of a desperate feminist from the backlash movement.
She is successful, ruthless, and a liar. She lies about a sexual encounter with Tom (Michael Douglas) in an attempt to get him removed for the company they both work out. In the end, however, Douglas’ character wins, and the feminist character is humiliated and her career is finished. The plot of this film does hold some interesting twists which almost anticipate third wave feminism, of which I will write about later. Fatal Attraction follows a similar path. Douglas once again plays an honest, genuine family man, who is seduced by Glenn Close’s character Alex.
Alex is, like Meredith, single and independent, unmarried and childless. A brief affair leads to her obsession with Douglas, and her psychopathic actions lead to her being killed by Douglas’ faithful, kind wife in defence of her marriage. The film incurred such a reaction amongst men in the audience of the cinema’s that they verbally attacked Alex Forrest as she died. The film has a clear message to those watching it. It says to women that by choosing independence and a career over marriage and motherhood, you will probably end up like Alex Forrest.
Such was the demonization of her character, it was hard to give her character any sympathy ??? even though, as one might look at it, she had been entirely used and then discarded by Michael Douglas’ character. However, according to Faludi this idea of women still not being satisfied with the freedom they have achieved and desperate to a marriage and husband is merely backlash, and not true. She cites public opinion polls which conclude that women are actually unhappy with the lack of equality that they still experience at work and at home. In fact, they place their desire to find a husband at the bottom of the list.
So, Faludi’s argument is that there has been an extreme backlash to the women’s movement, through politics, media and society. There is a ‘breathtakingly wrong’ notion of feminists being antisex. The word ‘feminist’ has been tainted with the image of a man hating women, loud, unattractive and desperate, and women have simply not been able to achieve they equality in life they so desire. Often this feels like a reaction to women speaking up and having a voice, and not a valid critique of a point being made. Astrid Henry, however, makes a very different suggestion.
Using the hit series ‘Sex and the City’ as her main stand point, she argues that a new wave of feminism has arrived, a third wave. The women that embody this feminism are empowered and more importantly, they are individuals. They have a freedom of choice that the previous generation did not have. Importantly, Henry sites that it is the bond between women that is so important to the show: ‘The women’s relationships with each other ???both as a group and individually- are continually depicted as these character’s primary community and family, their source of love and care and, in one notable episode, their economic support’
Henry’s argument is that these women, as the daughter’s of second wave feminists, are overwhelmed with individual choice and the freedom the be anything, and this is what third-wave feminism is about. The characters conclude that men are just ‘great, nice guys to have fun with’ and they can be ‘each other’s soul mates. ‘ (‘The Agony and the ‘Ex’-tacy, 4:1′). The idea of women replacing men as each other’s source of support and comfort is feminist. So too is the notion that these characters have it all. As Samantha notes in one episode, ‘You see that New York, we have it all!
Great apartments, great jobs, great friends, great sex’. (‘Easy Come, Easy Go, 3:9. ) The women in Sex and the City appear to have reached an equilibrium, or a balance between feminism and men. Men are fluid, but their careers and more importantly friendships with other women are a permanent fixture. Their freedom of choice and liberal expression is what sets them apart from second wave feminists, as they seem to have reached a compromise. They marry, get engaged and have children, but the thing that remains central to their lives, their main storyline, is the bond that they share.
Indeed, as Henry points out, ‘Sex and the City routinely concludes with the four women together, laughing and talking, supporting each other’. Sex and the City has responded to feminist backlash by turning characters such as Meredith and Alex into Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. The key ideas are still there: they enjoy sex, they have successful careers and are ???at least most of the time- fiercely independent. However, what has been changed is that now, the audience can imagine being friends with these women. They are not devoid of female emotion, they feel and they care.
In reaction to the single, lonely and desperate woman portrayed in the cinema of the 1980s, the 1990s and millenium third wave feminism has turned these characters into human beings. We might argue that they are a backlash to the backlash. However, it is entirely conceivable that Sex and the City should come under criticism, for it does suggest that although these women appear independent and strong, backlash against them does surface. When Miranda discovers she is pregnant, though cannot tell anyone at work because she knows she would have to say ‘goodbye to all the good cases’. ‘All That Glitters’, 4:14. ) Moreover, one of the key ideas of the feminist backlash is that single career women are desperate and unhappy, really just trying to find a man. Sex and the City directly validates this theory by showing the four characters always looking for a man to be with. Even though they sometimes struggle with giving up their single life ???for example in season four when Carrie cannot commit to marriage with her fiance Aidan- they are still looking for the perfect man: ‘I am someone who is looking for love.
Over the top, can’t live without each other romance’ (An American Girl in Paris Part Deux, 6:20). Even Samantha, the most independent and liberal of the group eventually settles down in a relationship by the end of the series. Each character appears to have found her happy ending with a man. Jane Gerhard cites that ‘the show’s core is unstable because the apparent need for heterosexual romance clashes with the idea that four passionate friends could maintain a sufficient life together. Although the show goes out of its way to demonstrate the strong friendship between the four women, it eventually succumbs to feminist backlash and pairs each of the characters off with men. Moreover, the current hit television show Desperate Housewives was dubbed the new Sex and the City when it was first aired. The show follows the same path of having four women as its central characters. However, the show has taken the idea of a friendship between four independent women and turned them into housewives in suburbia, suggesting a rebirth of feminist backlash.
These women are too undeniable stylish, attractive and wealthy, as are Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. However, even though Sex and the City disappointed many fans by pairing off their leading ladies, they somehow manage to retain their individuality. The characters of Desperate Housewives, ‘the new Sex and the city’ lack any of the passion, humour and drive of the original four. Careers barely feature in the storyline, as most of the action takes place in Wysteria lane. The show only really looks at one character, Lynette, trying to balance motherhood and domesticity with a career.
However, although there is much to be criticized about Desperate Housewives ???after all there is a strong message being sent out when the new Carrie Bradshaw is a housewife in suburbia- the four protagonists remain unhappy with the life they have. Affairs with gardeners and ex-husbands are rife, and the boredom they face suggests that perhaps they might have been better staying as four single and independent women. Perhaps they should have joined in with the third wave feminists, not succumbed to the backlash.
The ideas that Faludi and Henry present are entirely different, and some may argue that they cannot exist together: women cannot possibly be as liberated as they seem in Sex and the City when there is such a sever backlash against feminism and it is impossible for these women to achieve equality. However, they can exist together and this is demonstrated in Sex and the City. The women are third wave feminists, liberal in their acts and conversation. However, they are searching for a man to make them happy, and this coincides with key ideas of the backlash.
What is different however, is that a compromise seems to have been reached. Key points from the two theories have been brought together to make a new wave of feminists. Though they still suffer from sexism at work, all four are undeniably successful. Though they are fulfilled to an extent by their independence and friendships with women, they are still looking for a man, and in the meantime, liberated sex will do. Similarly, the early anticipation of this occurs in Disclosure, when Stephanie, a female, wins the promotion Douglas was hoping for.
However, Stephanie is a powerful embodiment of a feminist and something else ???a mother. She appears to have achieved the balance between the two ideas, domestic and professional. Although Sex and the City is fiction, or a fantasy, it speaks to women today and is entirely relatable, which is what makes it real. The majority of the writers on the show are women, and many of the storylines in the show are drawn from real experiences. Furthermore, the show itself is based on some of the ideas and memoirs from Candace Bushnell, who created Carrie Bradshaw as her other half.
In conclusion, third wave feminism and backlash can and do exist together. The idea of third wave feminism has given women the notion that they can achieve the independence of feminism, and also enjoy a domestic life if they so choose. They can relish being an independent career woman and the support from female friends, whilst searching for a fulfilling relationship with a man. Whilst women still face problems from a backlash, third wave feminism has allowed them to find a compromise and deal with the problems that they face.