9/11 과 페미니즘

 9/11 (나인 일레븐) 이후 테러니즘에 대한 대처 흐름이 한층 강화된 것의 영향으로 페미니즘이 직접적인 타격을 받았다고  저널리스트 <수산 Faludi>는 그녀의 저서 "The Terror Dream" 에서 주장한다. 

The Terror Dream, available October 2007.
About the book.

 

전쟁이 나면 남자들이 불려 나가기 때문에 여자들은 참가할 기회 마저 봉쇄되고 그 결과 남자들의 역활만 더욱 크게 조명되기에 수잔 팔루디의 견해에 일부 수긍할 수도 있다.

그러나  9.11 사건 이후 테러니즘 대처 국가 활동 강화가 페미니즘에 같은 수준의 타격을 입힌 것이라는 주장에는 나는 동의하지 않는다.  국가 안전이 위협받는 위기 시에는 여자들이 참여할 수 있는 공간과 그 역활은 축소되기 마련인 것은 인정한다.   하지만 2001년 9.11 사태 이후 남녀간의 성차별이나 페미니즘 의식을 불문하고 인간의 기본권을 심각히 저해할 정도로 까지 어떤 부문에서는 국가 권력의 강화가 이뤄졌기 때문이다.  이런 증거는 결국 페미니즘이 역사적으로 보면 개인 인권의 강화 흐름과 같이 했다는 시각을 증명할  것으로 여긴다.  결국 페미니즘의 독립적 위치를 부정할수 간접적인 논거로 까지 작동하지 않을까도 점처 볼 수 있지 않나 여긴다. 

암튼 그렇다고 하더라도 수잔 Faludi 책은 읽어볼 흥미가 있지 않나 생각한다. 

그리고 그녀 책 비평 가운데에서 흥미로운 점 하나를 생각해 본다. 다음 영문으로 옮겨보는데 한민족의 한의 개념을 쉽게 이해하는 우리라면 민족성을 이어나가는 개념과 함께 닿아있는 면이다.  내가 오래 동안 의문을 품어 온 소재이기도 한데 인간의 후세대에 대한 교육전달체계의 문제이기도 하다.   

" September 11 was not, in fact, an inconceivable event; it was the characteristic and formative American ordeal, the primal injury of which we could not speak… Our ancestors had already fought a war on terror, a very long war, and we have lived with its scars ever since.”  Really?  It is hard to understand how psychic trauma is passed down generationally;  Faludi attempts to evade this with metaphors of a cultural bloodstream, a national genetic code, which are just that  metaphors.

 But the premise is flawed."

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추가:

수잔 Faludi 말 하나: 

’Feminism’s agenda is basic: It asks that women not be forced to "choose" between public justice and private happiness.’ - Susan Faludi

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수잔 팔루디 웹리소스 사이트 ttp://www.synaptic.bc.ca/ejournal/faludi.htm

Susan Faludi on the Web

Faludi, Susan. Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women,(1991).

A terse review of Faludi's Backlash, appearing below, which rapidly propagated throughout the net, including the soc.feminism newsgroup FAQ, the home pages of various people and on other feminist reference sites. Note: I did not find Backlash to be in any way unsympathetic to any choices a woman must make.

Gives an overview of the reaction to feminism in America today. It is an incredible compendium of incorrect facts, bogus statistics, false logic and unfounded theories, all of which which are presented by society and the media in particular as "true" and "factual" in order to keep women subordinate. one caveat about this book is that the author seems unsympathetic to the difficult choices a woman must make if she wants to combine career and family.

Critical Thinkers Susan Faludi Forum

A message forum managed on this site. A place to post event listings, additional web links and discuss Faludi's work. It's new, so please help it grow.

 

One of Backlash's most powerful insights was to catch at least one right-wing woman pundit at home, where her husband pulled duty watching the children, cooking meals, participated in running the household, while his wife kept a busy professional schedule. And as Faludi observed this dynamic at work, the pundit explained why a family worked best when a woman stayed at home, raised the children, that a family and its members became dysfunctional when a woman splits her responsibilities between home, family and profession.

 

Critical Events [Now Defunct]

Part of the Critical Events Calendar. Originally, Critical Events provided an online event schedule for finding and posting events such as speaking engagements, forums, political rallies, film and video screenings, etc. It can still do that, but it's morphed primarily to a database for historical events, memorial observances, birthdays, etc., many of which will be of interest to Faludi observers, activists and feminists.

 

Columbia Journalism Review

Another review of Backlash, this one lengthy, full-bodied. The singling out of one gender in the article's title, MYTHS THAT MEN (AND MEDIA) LIVE BY is not supported by the work being reviewed. It is quite clear in Faludi's research that women live by these myths as well. The reviewer writes,

"I came away from Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women feeling not only that it should be required reading for all Americans, but that every representative of any media organization in the country should be locked in a room until he or she has finished the last page"

A post-feminist era?

Less a review of Backlash than a quick summarization of it in comparison to Marilyn French's The War Against Women. The Reviewer writes:

"Faludi is 33, French into her 50s. Together they span the generations of women in this latest wave of feminism. This generation gap is important; Faludi and the even younger Naomi Wolf are the angry children of the three decades of the US women's movement. They are the offspring of Reagan's America, an altogether more pessimistic cohort, a lot less able to sustain dreams than were the children of Kennedy's America."

Susan Faludi and Naomi Wolf Backlashings: The Effects on Women's Minds, Jobs and Bodies

Another quick review in the guise of promoting a speech or seminar given by Faludi and Wolf. Says the reviewer:

"And there is also still that sense that the word "feminist" is pejorative; the minute you declare yourself to be one, you can feel your credibility oozing away, other women resent you for rocking the boat (can't you see this is the way it has always been?), you are automatically part of a self-fulfilling prophecy that you are doomed to a life of loneliness, despair, barrenness and social and economic marginalization."

Marriage and career

Not so much a review as a brief summation of Backlash's thesis concerning women's attitudes towards marriage and career.

Commercial media wisdom tells us single career women are desperate for marriage but will be left on the shelf: if women choose economic independence and professional fulfilment over marriage and child-bearing, the cost will be dreadful -- loneliness, nervous breakdowns, the loss of femininity.

Review of Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women, by Christina Hoff Sommers

Faludi through the 'balanced' eye of a reviewer of Hoff Sommer's book, Who Stole Feminism.

According to the review, "Anyone who has read Susan Faludi's Backlash, as I have, should read Who Stole Feminism? for balance. Sommers hasn't convinced me that Faludi is completely wrong - I don't find it unlikely that some groups, especially religious conservatives, want to roll back the advances that women have made. But Sommers has a sharper mind than Faludi, and more common sense. She's also more restrained, rational, and rigorous than is Camille Paglia, but fans of Paglia's rants will find some good fiery moments in this book."

Identifying the enemy

Compares the significance and definition of self-esteem as seen by Faludi and Gloria Steinem.

Both women try to sort out why the women's movement of the '60s faltered. Why were the hard-won gains made in pay, working conditions, abortion rights and anti-discrimination legislation gradually wound back, in degrees, during the Reagan years?

Faludi critiques new 'revisionist feminism' during Olin lecture

A report on the lecture, its content and the response of some students.

At a time when the media is holding up women like Linda Tripp and Paula Jones as feminist icons, Susan Faludi says, it's no wonder women are wary of the feminist label.

Award-winning journalist visits campus

An announcement of Faludi's visit to the University of Tennessee. When I first posted this page, back in 1996, this small article offered the most depth found on the net.

"Known for her best-seller, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, Faludi is noted for her hard-hitting reporting style and statistical analysis. Backlash, her first book, won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1991."

 

Susan Faludi on the eJournal

Fueling the Bonfire.
Bat City . . . and beyond (Part I)
Bat City . . . and beyond (Part II)

Quotes: three different ones.