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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. Whose design house loses $9.3 million in 1989?

2. In the American version of the French film Three Men and a Baby, what significant change is made to the story line?

3. Which of the following women bets a male reporter that she will marry by forty?

4. Which author publishes a 922-page compendium in which 4,500 women despair about not being treated as equals by mates?

5. Victoria Secret was intended to be the:

Short Essay Questions

1. Briefly explain the series of events that occur after the New York Times announces a "back-to-the-home trend" in 1980 based on six Ivy League undergraduates.

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. 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?

4. Select at least three media outlets and discuss how they work with the backlash to use relationship "scare tactics" to fight against the feminist movement.

5. Summarize three ways in which Felice Schwartz affects the feminist movement.

6. The New Right attempts to denounce day care; however, what does the evidence and data suggest?

7. Contrast the media's transition from applauding "brave" relationship choices in the 1970s to the position the media outlets took to address this issue in the 1980s.

8. Chronicle the evolution of Ms. magazine in the 1980s.

9. 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.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout her book, Faludi presents backlash supporters who bash the feminist movement while enjoying its benefits. She seems to make the issue black or white asserting that if a person does not support the movement entirely, then he/she is a hypocrite for taking actions that could be supported by feminists. Is this an appropriate position for Faludi to take? Why or why not?

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

Throughout the book, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, Faludi highlights research studies and books that use flawed data collection, methods of analysis, or interpretations. Three of such studies were the Harvard-Yale marriage study, the work of Dr. Srully Blotnick, and Lenore Weitzman's 1985 book, The Divorce Revolution. Describe the role each of these works played in subverting the fight for women's rights. Highlight two or three examples from each of the three publications.

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