Who-Stole-Feminism.-How-Women-Have-Betrayed-Women

THE BACKLASH MYTH 247A large majority of women (82 percent) claimed they "enjoyed lifemost of the time." The same small proportion (5 percent of men andwomen) said they had been depressed most of that week. That a lot ofAmerican women are enjoying life may not be newsworthy. But here isthe astonishing way the Commonwealth Fund and Harris and Associatessummarized the results of the questionnaire in their press release: "Surveyresults indicate that depression and low self-esteem are pervasive problemsfor American women. Forty percent of the women surveyed reportbeing severely depressed in the past week, compared with 26 percent ofmen." 69This conclusion was somehow arrived at by the way the Harris pollinterpreted the responses to the six questions. The survey's report representedthis result graphically: 70Women and DepressionYounger Women Are More Depressed than Older WomenTotal Women 18-44 45-64 65 and OlderAge* Derived from ranking responses to six statements regarding symptoms of depression.Humphrey Taylor, president of Louis Harris and Associates, announcedat the news conference that the results on women's depressionsurprised him the most. 71He said that the survey can "accurately beprojected to the American female population [of 94.6 million]. This is farand away the most comprehensive survey ever done on women'shealth." 72