It's Fine To Dress In Polka Dots

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 Backlash Against Women's Rights Would Be Just One Of Several Powerful Forces Creating A Harsh And Painful Climate For Women At Work. Reagonomics, The Recession, And The Expansion Of A Minimum-wage Service Economy Also Helped, In No Small Measure, To Slow And Even Undermine Women's Momentum In The Job Market. But The Backlash Did More Than Impede Women's Opportunities For Employment, Promotions, And Better Pay. Its Spokesmen Kept The News Of Many Of These Setbacks From Women. Not Only Did The Backlash Do Grievous Damage To Working Women C It Did On The Sly.

The Heart Of The Backlash Argument: Women Are Better Off 'protected' Than Equal.

I Think A Reason That A Lot Of People Feel Politically Paralysed Is That It Used To Be Clear How Power Was Organised. But Those Who Have Their Hands On The Levers Of Popular Culture Today Have Great Power - And It Isn't Even Clear Who They Are.

The Demand That Women "return To Femininity" Is A Demand That The Cultural Gears Shift Into Reverse, That We Back Up To A Fabled Time When Everyone Was Richer, Younger, More Powerful.