The defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1982 raised many questions about the viability of American feminism. The antifeminist movement has largely escaped critical inquiry, despite its close relationship with the New Right, a coalition that experienced several setbacks in the late 1980s. This article examines the antifeminist movement in the post-ERA period. It presents a historical overview of American antifeminist movements, examines their bases of support among both sympathizers and activists, and details the organization and activities of the two largest antifeminist organizations, Eagle Forum and Concerned Women for America. Concluding comments speculate on the future of the antifeminist movement and suggest that there are both internal and external barriers to its continued success.
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References
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Scholarly revisionism on feminism is exemplified in Sylvia Ann Hewlett, A Lesser Life: The Myth of Women's Liberation in America (New York: William Morrow, 1986).
2.
Susan E. Marshall , “Ladies against Women: Mobilization Dilemmas of Antifeminist Movements,”Social Problems, 32(4):348-362 (Apr. 1985).
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Susan E. Marshall and Anthony M. Orum, “Opposition Then and Now: Countering Feminism in the Twentieth Century,” in Research in Politics and Society, ed. G. Moore and G. D. Spitze (Greenwich, CT:JAI Press, 1986), 2:15-17, 25-28.
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Rita J. Simon and Jean M. Landis, “Report: Women's and Men's Attitudes about a Woman's Place and Role,”Public Opinion Quarterly, 53(2):275 (Summer 1989).
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Lee Sigelman and Stanley Presser, “Measuring Public Support for the New Christian Right: The Perils of Point Estimation,”Public Opinion Quarterly, 52(3):325-337 (Fall 1988).
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Clyde Wilcox , “The Christian Right in Twentieth Century America: Continuity and Change,”Review of Politics, 50(4):659-681 (Fall 1988).
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Richard Viguerie , The New Right: We're Ready to Lead (Falls Church, VA: Viguerie, 1980).
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Zillah R. Eisenstein , “The Sexual Politics of the New Right: Understanding the `Crisis of Liberalism' for the 1980s,”Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 7(3):567-588 (Spring 1982).
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For a primary source, see Phyllis Schlafly, The Power of the Positive Woman (New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1977).
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“Powerhouse of the Religious Right?”Christianity Today, 6 Nov. 1987, pp. 34-36.
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reprinted in Humanist, 46(3):12 (May-June 1986).
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“The Challenge of Child Care Costs,” ibid. (Feb. 1989).
