The feminine mystique is a book written by betty friedan in 1963. Get an answer for what was friedan s problem in the feminine mystique. The feminine mystique by betty friedan 2032 words bartleby. Almost onethird of married women in the united states were part of the paid labor force by 1960. What argument did friedan make in the feminine mystique. She was a leading figure in the womens movement in the us, the book she wrote was called the feminine mystique and her contribution to society is that she created the second wave of american feminism by her writing. The feminine mystique discussed the idealized happysuburbanhousewife image that then was marketed to many women as their best if. The problem that betty friedan describes in her 1963 work, the feminine mystique, is the dissatisfaction of suburban housewives. This is the book that defined the problem that has no name, that launched the second wave of the feminist movement, and has been awakening women and men with.
Us history chapter 30 betty friedan the feminine mystique. The feminine mystique is a book by betty friedan that is widely credited with sparking the beginning of secondwave feminism in the united states. What did betty friedan argue in the feminine mystique that. Situating her study of women in the postworld war ii era, friedan argued that. Rethinking betty friedan and the feminine mystique. Read the first chapter of betty friedans the feminine. In the feminine mystique, betty friedan argued that the unhappiness many women experienced was due to living in a society which forced them to be subservient to men. Her work propelled the stagnant womens rights movement into its second wave and helped women reclaim some equality. Friedan s deconstruction of freudian theories of sex and sexuality was brilliantly done, as was her exploration of the advertising industry. In it, he exposed a startling, weirdly littleknown truth about its. Daniel horowitz further complicated the books legacy with his 1998 book betty friedan and the making of the feminine mystique. The feminine mystique by betty friedan in 1963, betty friedan s the feminine mystique was published. Friedan then stayed home to care for her family, but she was restless as a homemaker and began to wonder if other women felt the same way she did that she.
In her 1963 book the feminine mystique, betty friedan argued that. She was writing, as new york times film and literary critic janet maslin would say, about depression. In her book, friedan denounced that notion of the voluntary. Betty friedan s argument in the feminine mystique 1963 is made from the point of view of psychology and sociology through the analysis of surveys and interviews with women. The feminine mystique, a landmark book by feminist betty friedan published in. The feminine mystique by betty friedan the feminine mystique by betty friedan is a landmark book of its time, and it is still relevant for all women today. Friedan argued for legalizing access to abortion and contraception, and her. Betty friedan was a american writer, activist, and feminist. In 1984, black feminist theorist bell hooks introduced her own book. The feminine mystique by betty friedan makes good points, bit repetitive and outdated. This book describes the early 20th century turning of women from vital human beings, who were fulfilled by higher education and work, into a mystique that proved to be a mix of self. After the book the feminine mystique was published in 1963, many women began reaching out to one another, pouring out their anger.
What did betty friedan argue in the feminine mystique. What did betty friedan do that impacted the womens. Betty friedan argued in the feminine mystique that women lacked. This leads to promiscuity and homosexuality, which is spreading like a. It was interesting to read her descriptions of the way a consumerist society needs its population to. Betty friedan is not responsible for all of our unhappiness. What was president eisenhowers most important and farreaching domestic initiative.
The impact of betty friedan s the feminine mystique on american women has been hotly debated ever since the book hit the bestseller lists in 1963. Friedan was trying to explain why the surveys showed women were unhappy in their domestic lives. Betty friedan and the birth of modern feminism the heritage. The feminine mystique by betty friedan, published in 1963, is often seen as the beginning of the womens liberation movement. A story often told by and about betty friedan is that in the decades after the feminine mystique, which sold around 3 million copies in the united states alone, women repeatedly came up to her on the street and gushed, you changed my life. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them.
Friedan later worried that radical feminists were taking her principles too far, but. With her book the feminine mystique 1963, betty friedan 19212006 broke new ground by exploring the idea of women finding personal fulfillment outside of their traditional roles. The mystique of betty friedan she helped to change not only the thinking but the lives of many american women, but recent books throw into question the intellectual and personal sources of her. Seen as the spark that ignited secondwave feminism. Friedan argued for modern feminism or what came to be called. For the most part, friedan controls her passion and directs it towards cleareyed and persuasive arguments against the glorification of. Betty friedan, who ignited cause in feminine mystique. For her book, the feminine mystique, betty friedan did what. Betty friedan opened her famous book by identifying the problem that has no name. When the feminine mystique emerged in 1963, it created a reaction so intense that friedan could later write another book about the things women said to her. Betty friedan and the making of the feminine mystique. The feminine mystique, by betty friedan, seen in 1980, is commonly hailed as the book that started secondwave feminism.
It explores the life of a middle class, educated housewife in suburbia. Friedan also argued that the feminine mystique hurt women both personally and professionally, and she held that, for women as well as for men, identity was largely cultivated through a sense of personal achievement, primarily through a career. She lost her job, however, after she became pregnant with her second child. Feminists of the 1960s and 1970s would later say the feminine mystique was the book that started it all. The feminine mystique is something that traps a woman. It is the most famous of betty friedan s works, and it made her a household name. The beauty of this is that each person, even if reading the same book, leaves the final page with a different message. What was friedans problem in the feminine mystique.
Her important book, published in 1963, argued that women in america were being misled into an unfulfilling and unhappy way of life. Feminist theorist bell hooks took betty friedans book to task for its racial. She argues that both men and women must reject the feminine mystique, and she. In 1957, friedan was asked to conduct a survey of her former smith college classmates for their 15th. In the feminine mystique, betty friedan put a spotlight on the hidden, yet immense problems women faced during the 1950s. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read.
Friedan discussed the problem that lay buried, unspoken in the minds of the suburban housewife, saying that they were too socially conditioned to. She found that many of her former classmates had gotten married, had. Betty friedan was an early leader of the feminist movement in the united states. Landmark, groundbreaking, classicthese adjectives barely describe the earthshaking and longlasting effects of betty friedan s the feminine mystique. Are the ideas promoted in the book the feminine mystique popular today. Betty friedan 1921 2006 was an american writer, activist and feminist, widely credited with starting the second wave of the womens movement in the united states with her 1963 book the feminine mystique. What problem did betty friedan write about in the feminine. Ever since the 1963 publication of her landmark book, the feminine mystique, betty friedan has insisted that her commitment to womens rights grew out of her experiences as an alienated suburban housewife. Friedan argues that housewives smother their children with love, preventing them from growing up.
The feminine mystique by betty friedan 1793 words 8 pages. Betty friedan 19212006 the embryo project encyclopedia. The feminine mystique discussed the idealized happysuburbanhousewife image that then was marketed to many women as their best if not their only option in life. With her book the feminine mystique 1963, betty friedan 19212006 broke new ground by exploring the idea of women finding personal. Doesnt it only apply to a limited group of bored, white, middle class women. Several of betty friedans fundamental arguments in the feminine mystique. The book that changed the consciousness of a countryand the world. In 1963, friedan wrote the feminine mystique, which historians consider a major. Labor union radicalism and feminism in cold war america daniel horowitz smith college in a certain sense it was almost accidentalcoincidentalthat i wrote the feminine mystique, and in another sense my whole life had prepared me to. Betty friedan argued in the feminine mystique that women. The feminine mystique, reassessed after 50 years the. Betty friedan, author of the landmark the feminine mystique, died five years ago today. Betty friedans enduring mystique the new york times.
Betty friedan was the author of the feminine mystique and one of the leading members of the womens liberation movement of the 1960s and 70s. In her groundbreaking 1963 book the feminine mystique, feminist leader betty friedan dared to write about the problem that has no name. She graduated from smith college in 1942 with a degree in psychology, but rather than pursue her doctorate she moved to new york for a career in journalism. Read the first chapter of betty friedan s book, the feminine mystique.