Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
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Doctors had told her before . . .: Ibid.; personal interview with Carder’s mother, Nettie Stoner, 1989.
She was, in fact . . .: Affidavit of Dr. Jeffrey A. Moscow, In Re: A. C., 1986, p. 3.
Her cancer had been . . .: Personal interview with Nettie Stoner, 1989.
Her longtime oncologist . . .: Affidavit of Dr. Jeffrey A. Moscow, p. 2.
She told the doctor . . .”: Personal interview with Nettie Stoner, 1989.
But the doctors . . .: In Re: Angela Carder, Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Transcript, June 16, 1987.
“She said, ‘No,. . .’”: Personal interview with Nettie Stoner, 1989.
Even the hospital’s . . .: David Remnick, “Whose Life Is It, Anyway?” The Washington Post Magazine, Feb. 21, 1988, p. 14.
“No one told me . . .”: Personal interview with Nettie Stoner, 1989.
Each of the physicians . . .: In Re: Angela Carder. 442 “Well, I suppose . . .”: Ibid.
The judge’s questions . . .: Ibid.
When Carder’s attorney observed . . .: Ibid.
“If I wanted to . . .”: Personal interview with Barbara Mishkin, 1989.
There’s been some . . .”: In Re: Angela Carder. He asked . . .: Ibid.
This time, she told . . .: Ibid.
“The court is still not . . .”: Ibid.
The judges, told that . . .: In Re: Angela Carder, District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Transcript, June 16, 1987, p. 4.
Was her “mental frame . . .”: Ibid., p. 7.
“Does this woman . . .”: Ibid., pp. 6-7.
The fetus’s attorney . . .: Ibid., p. 9.
It was “not . . .”: Ibid.
The law “is . . .”: Ibid., p. 16.
With the time . . .”: Ibid.
A short while later . . .: Remnick, “Whose Life,” p. 21.
It was “like trying to . . .”: Ibid.
“They wanted a live . . .”: Personal interview with Nettie Stoner, 1989.
Her mother held . . .: Ibid.
An autopsy report . . .: “First Amended Complaint for Damages,” Nettie and Daniel Stoner v. George Washington University, et al., p. 9.
Five months later . . .: “In the Matter of A.C.,” No. 87-609, 53 A.2d, p. 611 (D.C. App. 1987).
Three years later . . .: Linda Greenhouse, “Forced Surgery to Save Fetus Is Rejected by Court in Capital,” New York Times, April 27, 1990, p. 1.
They took . . .”: Personal interview with Nettie Stoner, 1989.
Starting in the . . .: “Reproductive Health Hazards in the Workplace,” U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, 1985.
By mid-decade . . .: Joan E. Bertin, “Reproductive Hazards in the Workplace,” Reproductive Laws for the 1990s, ed. by Sherrill Cohen and Nadine Taub (Clifton, N.J.: Humana Press, 1989) pp. 277-305.
And a survey . . .: Ronald Bayer, “Women, Work and Reproductive Hazards,” The Hastings Center Report, Oct. 1982, p. 14.
Passed off as . . .: Freeman, Politics of Women’s Liberation, p. 76; Kessler-Harris, Out to Work, p. 211.
The proponents of these . . .: Kessler-Harris, Out to Work, pp. 180-214.
“We cannot drive . . .”: Ibid., p. 202.
Working women were exposed . . .: “Women, Work and Health Hazards,” National Commission on Working Women, Washington, D.C., 1984.
These companies . . .: Michael Rose, “Reproductive Health Hazards for HighTech Workers,” in American Woman 1988–89, pp. 281-83; Lynne Lohmeier, “Making Work Safe for Childbearing Couples,” East West, Aug. 1987, p. 52.
The Reagan administration . . .: Rose, “Reproductive Health Hazards,” pp. 283-85.
When the National . . .: A 1986 congressional review of the OMB’s handling of this study found that OMB intentionally selected reviewers who had little concern for occupational health and OMB itself “unreasonably delayed, impeded and thwarted governmental research efforts. . . on serious public health questions.” See Ibid., pp. 284-85.
AT&T, for example . . .: Ibid., p. 279.
Officials at Allied Chemical . . .: Gail Bronson, “Issue of Fetal Damage Stirs Women Workers at Chemical Plants,” The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 9, 1979, p. 1.
Johnson Controls, the nation’s . . .: Richard Carelli, “Court Calls Job Hazard Policies Sex Bias,” San Francisco Examiner, March 20, 1991, p. A1.
In a federal survey . . .: Bayer, “Reproductive Hazards,” p. 17.
One industry group . . .: Rosalind Petchesky, Abortion and the Woman’s Choice: The State, Sexuality and Reproductive Freedom (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1990) p. 351.
To the Synthetic . . .: Bayer, “Reproductive Hazards,” p. 17.
These same companies . . .: Lohmeier, “Childbearing Couples,” p. 52; Mary Sue Henifin, “Making Healthy Babies Not Just Women’s Work,” Womanews, April 1983, p. 4.
An OSHA study . . .: Carolyn Marshall, “An Excuse for Workplace Hazard,” The Nation, April 25, 1987, p. 532.
Johnson Controls barred . . .: Ibid., p. 534.
A 1989 survey of 198 . . .: Anne J. Stone, “In Review: January 1, 1988—July 3, 1989,” in American Woman 1990-91, p. 50.
Du Pont based . . .: Bertin, “Reproductive Health Hazards in the Workplace,” unpublished paper, 1988.
Of the tens of thousands . . .: Marshall, “Workplace Hazard,” p. 533.
In fact, the Reagan . . .: Under Carter, OSHA drafted new rules that encouraged employers to protect both sexes from reproductive hazards. The Reagan administration scuttled them, slashed OSHA’s budget by 25 percent, and cut industrial inspections, citations, and court actions. See Betty Holcomb, “Occupational Health: The Fetus Factor,” Ms., May 1983, p. 40.
They even hired . . .: Personal interview with Faith Popcorn, 1989.
After we interviewed . . .”: Deposition of Glenn E. Mercer, Christman v. American Cyanamid Co. (Civil Action No. 80–0024, N.D. West Va.), Oct. 19–20, 1982, p. 101.
At the time, Betty Riggs . . .: Personal interview with Betty Riggs, 1988; Deposition of Betty June Riggs, Christman v. American Cyanamid Co., Dec. 8, 1980, p. 8.
When Riggs pressed . . .: Personal interview with Betty Riggs, 1988.
As a number . . .: Personal interviews, 1988.
When she went . . .: Deposition of Donna Lee Martin, Christman v. American Cyanamid Co., Dec. 9, 1980, p. 22.
Six weeks later . . .: Ibid., pp. 22, 28.
Barbara Cantwell . . .: Deposition of Barbara Cantwell Christman, Christman v. American Cyanamid Co., Dec. 9–10, 1980, pp. 16, 27.
In her job interviews . . .: Ibid., pp. 16–17.
Women shouldn’t . . .”: Deposition of Christman, p. 39.
He complained that . . .: Ibid., p. 28; Deposition of Riggs, p. 101.
“SHOOT A WOMAN . . .”: Deposition of Martin, p. 158.
Another day . . .: Personal interview with Betty Riggs, 1988.
American Cyanamid’s corporate medical . . .: “Reproductive Health Hazards in the Workplace,” Office of Technology Assessment, 1985, p. 253.
The protection plan . . .: Deposition of Dr. Robert M. Clyne, Christman v. American Cyanamid Co., May 16, 1983, p. 141.
The company’s medical department . . .: “Reproductive Health Hazards in the Workplace,” pp. 253–55.
As Clyne explained . . .: Ibid., p. 253.
“We just did not . . .”: Deposition of Clyne, p. 476.
“Other steps . . .”: Ibid., p. 1052.
The company later . . .: Personal interview with American Cyanamid representatives, 1988, 1991; American Cyanamid press release.
A government inspection . . .: Decision of Judge Cecil L. Cutler, American Cyanamid Co, OSHRC Docket No. 79-2438, Oct. 14, 1980.
“We recognize . . .”: Deposition of Clyne, pp. 240-41.
In a series . . .: “Reproductive Health Hazards in the Workplace,” p. 257.
As Mercer put it . . .: Deposition of Martin, p. 184.
“He told us . . .”: Personal interview with Betty Riggs, 1988.
The women began . . .: Ibid.; Deposition of Martin, pp. 42-45; Deposition of Christman, pp. 62-65.
Mercer said he didn’t . . .: Deposition of Christman, p. 65.
Then a company nurse . . .: “Reproductive Health Hazards in the Workplace,” p. 257.
With that . . .: Personal interview with Betty Riggs, 1988.
Donna Martin listened . . .: Deposition of Martin, pp. 47, 173.
“Mentally, I couldn’t . . .”: Ibid., p. 173.
She had some painkillers . . .: Ibid., pp. 166-67, 169.
Within a week . . .: Ibid., p. 168.
She went to . . .: Ibid., p. 77.
Afterward, frightened . . .: Ibid., p. 80.
Finally, that September . . .: “Reproductive Health Hazards in the Workplace,” p. 257.
Like Martin . . .: Deposition of Christman, p. 90.
When Christman surfaced . . .: Ibid., p. 95.
The doctor, Rymer . . .: Deposition of Lola Rymer, Christman v. American Cyanamid Co., December 10-11, 1980, pp. 46-47.
“I did what I did . . .”: Personal interview with Betty Riggs, 1988.
In the end . . .: “Reproductive Health Hazards in the Workplace,” p. 257.
Q: Did she tell . . .: Deposition of Clyne, p. 780.
“I wondered . . .”: Personal interview with Betty Riggs, 1988.
He warned her . . .: Deposition of Riggs, p. 108.
When she took . . .: Deposition of Christman, p. 103.
Soon after Donna Martin . . .: Deposition of Martin, p. 147.
The men in the department . . .: Deposition of Christman, p. 150; personal interview with Betty Riggs, 1988; Deposition of Riggs, pp. 143-44.
In early 1979 . . .: Opinion of Circuit Judge Robert Bork, Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union v. American Cyanamid Co., 741 F.2d Series, 444 (1984), pp. 444-50.
“You women are . . .”: Personal interview with Betty Riggs, 1988; Deposition of Christman, p. 113.
That October . . .: Opinion of Bork, pp. 446-47.
American Cyanamid responded . . .: “Reproductive Health Hazards in the Workplace,” p. 257.
In 1980, American . . .: Opinion of Bork, p. 447.
Meanwhile, the women . . .: Personal interview with Joan Bertin, 1988.
The fetal protection . . .: Opinion of Bork, pp. 445, 449.
In 1983, they accepted . . .: Personal interview with Joan Bertin, 1988.
The women who participated . . .: Personal interviews, 1988.
One day in 1987 . . .: Personal interview with Betty Riggs, 1988.
“I suppose . . .”: Nat Hentoff, “Is Anyone There Underneath the Black Robes?” The Village Voice, Oct. 27, 1987, p. 32.
And at the hearings . . .: Amy Wallace, “Bork Version of Sterilization Case Disputed,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sept. 20, 1987, p. A1.
Everybody had a . . .”: Personal interview with Steve Tice, 1988.
“I feel these women . . .”: Personal interview with Dr. George Gevas, 1988.
“I don’t care to . . .”: Personal interview with Glenn Mercer, 1988.
In the years since . . .: Personal interviews, 1988.
“I became cold and . . .”: Personal interview with Betty Riggs, 1988.
EPILOGUE
Suffragists organized . . .: Klein, Gender Politics, p. 16.
As political scientist . . .: Ibid., p. 22.
The 1970 Women’s . . .: Freeman, Politics of Women’s Liberation, p. 84.
Afterward, seventy-one women’s . . .: Klein, Gender Politics, pp. 22, 124.
Among female students, too . . .: Alexander M. Astin Student Survey, 1990. The survey polled 200,000 undergraduates.
Their vast numbers . . .: Dan Balz and Ruth Marcus, “In Year Since Webster, Abortion Debate Defies Predictions,” Washington Post, July 3, 1990, p. A1.
Let the governor . . .”: David Shribman, “Gov. Andrus Worries About Threat to Boycott Idaho Potatoes in Fight Over Abortion Rights Bill,” The Wall Street Journal, March 29, 1990, p. A16.
“Anytime someone . . .”: Ibid.
They enjoyed . . .: Sara Frankel, “Women Go to the Pols,” San Francisco Examiner, May 6, 1990, p. C1.
“Women are not . . .”: Kate Rand Lloyd, speech, “Women, Men and Media,” University of Southern California, 1988.
(A record gender gap. . .): The Gallup Poll, 1991.
The reason men . . .”: Personal interview with Eleanor Smeal, 1989.
“I get press calls . . .”: Frankel, “Women Go to the Pols,” p. C4.
Acknowledgments
AS THE YEARS HAVE MOUNTED in much-belabored preparation of this book, so have the debts. It’s a wonder authors have any friends by the time they get around to the acknowledgments. I am enormously fortunate to have had such a kind, and forgiving, cheering squad.
This project began as a 1986 magazine story on the Harvard-Yale “man shortage” study, written while I was on the staff at West, the Sunday magazine of the San Jose Mercury News, and West editor Jeffrey Klein proved an early and invaluable supporter. He greatly eased the research and writing process by arranging for a yearlong leave and by agreeing to publish a string of magazine stories on women’s status that became an important element in Backlash. My good luck continued under the auspices of Greg Hill, my bureau chief at the Wall Street Journal, who held open a job for months so I could finish the book and who granted weeks off for various rewrites. My colleagues at The Journal’s San Francisco office have also been an understanding and supportive crew.
Edie Gelles, American scholar with Stanford University’s Institute for Research on Women and Gender, gave much-needed intellectual sustenance, bringing me into the visiting scholars program at the institute, which provided a wonderful forum in which to test ideas, and lending a sensitive and intelligent ear as I fumbled around for the book’s thesis. I am grateful to all the scholars at the institute for their thoughtful suggestions and criticism.
My agent Sandra Dijkstra was willing to take a chance on what was initially a pretty fuzzy proposal, and I am grateful to her for backing the idea so indefatigably. At Crown Publishers, Jane von Mehren was an enthusiastic and gracious editor, putting up with several false starts and telephone-book-sized early drafts. I am also indebted to Betty Prashker, who gave her personal support to the project from the outset. I also would like to give special thanks to Irene Prokop, Andrea Connolly, and Penny Simon, as well as the many others at Crown who guided the book through its final paces and suffered through my many last-minute inserts and changes. Christina Pattarelli and Rebecca Carroll also were lifesavers, hunting down a last round of books and periodicals and helping with fact checking at the eleventh hour.
I would have not made much headway without the quiet cooperation of the many people, from Census Bureau demographers to mental-health epidemiologists, whom I called upon in my research for this book. With few exceptions, they gave ungrudgingly of their time, submitting to lengthy interviews and providing a vast store of documentation. Nor would I have progressed very far without the work of many feminist writers and researchers, whose impressive body of scholarship provided both inspiration and critical foundation blocks.
Many friends have been salvations. Sarah Winterfield read through unwieldy first manuscripts and dispensed sometimes daily pep talks; Phil Winterfield tamed an often-petulant computer. Barbara McIntosh, Lisa Scalapino, Kathy Holub, Sara Frankel, Peggy Orenstein, and Cathy and David Massey came to my rescue countless times. So did Robert Faludi, who coaxed me out of writing doldrums with perpetual good humor. To Gary Kamiya goes heartfelt thanks for his endless enthusiasm for the project, his tender loving care, and his kitchen wizardry. I have, finally, a special and incalculable debt to Scott Rosenberg, whose clarity of thinking and meticulous editing are felt throughout Backlash.
This book is dedicated to my mother, who as a young woman fought to preserve her independence in the face of her own era’s “feminine-mystique” backlash. And it is written in the hopes that the n
ext generation of women might not have to fight another round.
About the Author
A former Wall Street Journal reporter, in 1991 Susan Faludi received the Pulitzer Prize for excellence in journalism and the National Book Critics Circle award for Backlash. She is also the author of Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man. Susan Faludi resides in California.
Copyright © 1991 by Susan Faludi
Preface copyright © 2006 by Susan Faludi
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
Three Rivers Press and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
The publisher gratefully acknowledges permission to reprint lines from The Man in the Black Coat Turns, published by Dial/Doubleday Press, New York, in 1981, copyright © 1981 by Robert Bly. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Faludi, Susan.
Backlash: the underclared war against American women/by Susan Faludi
.—1st Three Rivers Press ed.
Originally published: New York: Crown, © 1991.
Includes biographical references and index.
1. Feminism—United States. 2. Feminism—United States—Public opinion.
3. Public opinion—United States. 4. Women—United States—Social conditions.
5. Women—Psychology. I. Title.
HQ1426.F35 1992
305.42’0973—dc20 92-22416
eISBN: 978-0-307-42687-1
v3.0