Feminist Lessons From the 1980s: Why Every Movement Faces Backlash
Ms. Magazine | 09.06.2026 14:05
One of the enduring lessons of feminist history is that progress rarely goes unchallenged. The gains won by social movements often provoke organized resistance from those invested in maintaining the status quo. The 1980s demonstrated this lesson in dramatic fashion, as a decade of feminist advances gave way to a powerful political backlash that sought to reverse many of the movement’s hard-won victories.
