The American Woman Has Not Yet Slipped

The Backlash Convinced The Public That Women's 'liberation' Was The True Contemporary American Scourge - The Source Of An Endless Laundry List Of Personal, Social, And Economic Problems.

The Last Decade Has Seen A Powerful Counterassault On Women's Rights, A Backlash, An Attempt To Retract The Handful Of Small And Hard-won Victories That The Feminist Movement Did Manage To Win For Women. This Counterassault Is Largely Insidious: In A Kind Of Pop-culture Version Of The Big Lie, It Stands The Truth Boldly On Its Head And Proclaims That The Very Steps That Have Elevated Women's Position Have Actually Led To Their Downfall.

The Modern Fairy Tale Ending Is The Reverse Of The Traditional One: A Woman Does Not Wait For Prince Charming To Bring Her Happiness; She Lives Happily Ever After Only By Refusing To Wait For Him -- Or By Actually Rejecting Him. It Is Those Who Persist In Hoping For A Prince Charming Who Are Setting Themselves Up For Disillusionment And Unhappiness.

A Backlash Against Women's Rights Is Nothing New. Indeed It's A Recurring Phenomenon: It Returns Every Time Women Begin To Make Some Headway Towards Equality, A Seemingly Inevitable Early Frost To The Brief Flowerings Of Feminism.

The Piles Of Makeup And The Insistence On Frills And Ribbons And Bows Was Not At All Attuned To My Feminist Views.