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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Retin-A is approved by the FDA to treat _____________ and is eventually marketed to treat ________.

2. Faludi asserts that the decade's only real infertility epidemic is among young _____ women and is caused largely by the failure to treat ______ early on.

3. In her timeline of women's cosmetic trends, Faludi states that the bright, healthy, athletic look is popular in which era?

4. Who casts his wife in the demeaning role of an unsmiling female doctor who clutches her book about obsession and compulsion?

5. Whose design house loses $9.3 million in 1989?

Short Essay Questions

1. Identify three reasons why a periodical such as The New England Journal of Medicine would publish flawed data concerning fertility rates of young women.

2. In the book, Faludi highlights the following three shows: All in the Family, Maude, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Explain what point Faludi makes by highlighting these three shows.

3. Murphy Brown and Roseanne were two characters who were reviled by the backlash according to Faludi. Why were these women disliked so strongly? Also discuss the ways in which the backlash launches their attack of Murphy and Roseanne.

4. In your opinion, why do you believe that society markets marriage and children to women much more than to men?

5. Faludi writes that getting ABC to put Marilyn French's best-selling novel The Women's Room on screen is Esther Shapiro's "most grueling" professional experience. What are some of the factors that make this project so difficult?

6. Several doctors are discussed in Chapter 8 of the book. Faludi writes about the ways in which they help the backlash and use their credentials to sponsor cosmetic products. Name at least one of these doctors and describe his or her role in the backlash by the cosmetics industry.

7. The cosmetics industry has a long history of dictating difficult and unhealthy trends for women's bodies. Discuss what physical looks and trends are pushed from the Victorian era through 1970 according to Faludi.

8. During the 1988 television season, many female characters joke about being like June Cleaver. What point are they making by claiming this analogy?

9. After Reagan is elected president, many changes occur in the political arena that affect the feminist movement. Discuss three of these changes and how they affect the fight for women's rights.

10. Explain why the media would not focus on feminist issues such as jobs, equal pay, or coeducation but would instead give heavy coverage to protests against the Miss America pageant and burning bras.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The issue of pay discrepancies is significant in the feminist movement. Why is this an important issue for women to tackle? How does it affect the U.S. economy and have there been significant changes in this practice during the past 50 years? Cite evidence from Faludi's book or from contemporary society to substantiate your positions.

Essay Topic 2

In Part 2 of the book, "The Backlash in Popular Culture," Faludi provides an account of how the backlash uses trends within Ivy League graduates. Summarize this account in one to two paragraphs? Discuss the implications of using trends from female graduates from Ivy League universities versus other types of institutions.

Essay Topic 3

Working Woman and Good Housekeeping are two women's magazines that have played a role in the fight for women's rights. Summarize the position taken by each magazine in regards to the feminist movement. Summaries should first present the magazine's position across the decades from the 1950s to the present and then deal with the position of the magazine in general. How do you believe their positions have affected the feminist movement?

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