Part 3: Chapters 9-10 Summary and Analysis

Part 3, "Origins of a Reaction: Backlash Movers, Shakers, and Thinkers," begins by looking at "The Politics of Resentment: The New Right's War on Women". Paul Weyrich, the "Father of the New Right" and founder of the Heritage Foundation, is encouraged in 1988 that after eight years of Reaganism, America (and even the "liberal media") is seeing women's liberation as a dangerous lie. His goal is to set the clock back to 1954 and then get out of politics. Most Americans reject the New Right's flaming rhetoric, but the media turns it into palatable "trends". Most leaders are fundamentalist rural or electronic preachers with shrinking followings, and like all groups resenting a loss of power, they seek "retribution" against those who "rob" them. Following Congress' approval of the ERA and the Supreme Court's legalization of abortion in 1972-73, this means...