But Why Does Progress Always Scare Them? | A Backlash History of Women’s Rights

From bicycles to boardrooms, women’s progress has always triggered backlash. In this episode, Kristin and Laura trace a powerful throughline across 140 years of history — showing how each leap forward for women has been met with a push to drag them back. We unpack: • Why “bicycle face” was invented to stop women riding freely • How 1950s housewives were drugged into compliance • The flapper, the feminist, and the fear of female autonomy • How sport, beauty, and motherhood became tools of control • The resurgence of incel culture and tradwives in today’s algorithmic patriarchy From hysterical diagnoses to TikTok misogyny, this episode asks: What are they really so afraid of? And why does our joy, our freedom, and our power keep becoming the battleground?  Socials: https://linktr.ee/butwhy.pod