Conceptualizing Backlashes

• In Event: Political Homophobia or Backlash? Populist Responses to LGBT Rights and Activism

Abstract

There has been considerable discussion about backlash since Susan Faludi’s (1991) book, Backlash: The Undeclared War Agasinst Women. Central among the questions raised is, what is it? How might we best conceive of backlash and differentiate it from related terms, such as violence, oppression, resistance and misogyny? We pose a somewhat different set of questions. Why do we need to know? What population(s) do we seek to address? And, how are we centering those questions at the beginning of our inquiries to be sure that we are consistent in consideration of both these questions, and their implications for the suggested solutions and “best practices” that are put forth? This paper engages with a critical review of the backlash literature to grasp a) to what degree it addresses these questions b) to what degree the questions it asks and the solutions it posits engage with these fundamental questions. We suggest that the concept of backlash may need to expanded, to one of backlashes, which affect different populations in different ways, at different points in the spectrum, via distinct means.

Authors

• Erica Townsend-Bell, Oklahoma State University

• Zein Murib, Fordham University-Lincoln Center