She rejected the feminine mystique and suggested that women develop a new “life plan.” Rather than being treated as a “career,” housework was to be finished as quickly as possible. By the end of the 1950s, it was clear that something was happening to American women. On the 50th anniversary of its publication, The New York Times wrote that "it remains enduring shorthand for the suffocating vision of domestic goddess-hood Friedan is credited with helping demolish. Furthermore, feminists of colour, notably bell hooks, found Friedan’s manifesto both racist and classist, not at all applicable to African Americans and other working-class women who joined the labour force from necessity. [12], Chapter 13: Friedan discusses the psychologist Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs and notes that women have been trapped at the basic, physiological level, expected to find their identity through their sexual role alone. [31] Jessica Weiss quoted in her paper, "If the mothers, (or housewives as we are called) took this advice, what would become of our children? 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 … She had been a leftist radical activist from the time she was at Smith College. She argues that women were socially pressured into becoming homemakers by the “feminine mystique”: an idealized image of domestic femininity that arose in the 1950s. © 2020 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Friedan used statistics and interviews to illustrate women’s desire to achieve the feminine mystique. Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? [15][16], Friedan's chapter on Freud was inspired by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex (1949). Some attributed that unhappiness to education; they contended that the more educated a woman was, the more likely she was to be unfulfilled as a housewife. She argues that both men and women must reject the feminine mystique, and she encourages women to pursue education. '"[9], Chapter 2: Friedan states that the editorial decisions concerning women's magazines at the time were being made mostly by men, who insisted on stories and articles that showed women as either happy housewives or unhappy careerists, thus creating the "feminine mystique"—the idea that women were naturally fulfilled by devoting their lives to being housewives and mothers. Although aware of and sharing this dissatisfaction, women in the 1950s misinterpreted it as an individual problem and rarely talked about it with other women. [3][4], During 1964, The Feminine Mystique became the bestselling nonfiction book with over one million copies sold. The story of our times told by the people who were there. For instance, by the end of the 1950s, 14 million girls were becoming engaged by age 17, and the average age of marriage had dropped to 20. [2], On February 22 and 23, 2013, a symposium titled React: The Feminine Mystique at 50, co-sponsored by The New School for Public Engagement and The Parsons School of Design, was held. Friedan argues at the end of the chapter that although theorists discuss how men need to find their identity, women are expected to be autonomous. The Feminine Mystique, by Betty Friedan, was one of the most important and influential texts of feminism in the 1960s. Significant numbers of women responded angrily to the book, which they felt implied that wives and mothers could never be fulfilled. That is, the argument that Friedan makes about what women should be like are popular. Friedan recounts her own regrettable decision to leave school after winning a fellowship that would have allowed her to get her doctorate degree and become a professional psychologist. Because the ancient Egyptians saw their pharaohs as gods, they carefully preserved their bodies after death, burying them ...read more, U.S. officials report that, in addition to the 800,000 people listed as refugees prior to January 30, the fighting during the Tet Offensive has created 350,000 new refugees. In the book, Friedan argues that women have... Who is the publisher of The Feminist Mystique? A collection of interviews with people who were there at key moments in women's history, Looking back at almost six years of global conflict, from Hiroshima to the Holocaust, From the Bolshevik takeover of 1917 to the break-up of the Soviet Union, Events from history when animals took centre stage, Stories of endurance, world records and remarkable athletes, The communities, politics, leaders and events that have shaped Africa, History as told by the people who were there, More than 50 first-hand accounts of significant moments in WW2, Animals Who Made History: Programmes and downloads, Don't miss these stories of astonishing achievement. In 1963 the commission appointed to review the status of women recommended an end to inequities. Friedan also states that this is in contrast to the 1930s, at which time women's magazines often featured confident and independent heroines, many of whom were involved in careers. One the first signs of the emerging Second Wave Feminism, Friedan's work was crucial in giving language to the frustrations women felt in the '50s and '60s. By the early 1960s the media had recognized that suburban women were often unhappy with their roles. “The book that pulled the trigger on history.” - Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock “One of those rare books we are endowed with only once in several decades.” - Amitai Etzioni, author of The Spirit of Community: The Reinvention of American Society “[The Feminine Mystique] now feels both revolutionary and utterly contemporary. The Feminine Mystique drew large numbers of white, middle-class women to the feminist cause. [43], Horowitz, Daniel. Its arguments, broadly speaking, were less relevant, because twice as many women were in the workforce as had been during the 1950s. [35] These articles did, however, still emphasize the importance of maintaining the traditional image of femininity. "Rethinking Betty Friedan and, Daniel Horowitz, "Rethinking Betty Friedan and, "Betty Friedan, Who Ignited Cause in 'Feminine Mystique,' Dies at 85", "The Feminine Mystique | work by Friedan", "The Feminist Mystique-Simple chapter summaries", American National Biography Online: Friedan, Betty, Media Coverage of the Feminine Mystique Symposium, New Location - React: The Feminine Mystique at 50 (Day 1) | The New School | University Events, The Feminine Mystique | W. W. Norton & Company, "What 'The Jungle' and 'What Do People Do All Day?' Or better yet, the future of the world. Further, prevailing attitudes held that “truly feminine” women had no desire for higher education, careers, or a political voice; rather, they found complete fulfillment in the domestic sphere. Johnson quickly became a national hero, though his fame was short-lived, and he never again competed in the Olympics. Friedan believes that her generation was among the first victims of the feminine mystique, which pressured and guilted promising young women like Friedan and her peers into abandoning their professional goals. The book helped transform public awareness and brought many women into the vanguard of the womens movement, just as it propelled Friedan into its early leadership. Her book "took the complicated and jargon-laden ideas of psychologists, economists, and political theorists, and translated them into powerful, readable, relatable prose that touched millions." Strongly supported by western mining interests and farmers, the Bland-Allison Act—which provided for a return to the minting of silver coins—becomes the law of the land. The co-founder of the National Organization of Women (NOW),... How did The Feminine Mystique affect the American culture? By the end of the 1980s, however, its flaws had been clearly identified. Read about our approach to external linking. [12], Chapter 7: Friedan discusses the change in women's education from the 1940s to the early 1960s, in which many women's schools concentrated on non-challenging classes that focused mostly on marriage, family, and other subjects deemed suitable for women, as educators influenced by functionalism felt that too much education would spoil women's femininity and capacity for sexual fulfillment. Friedan ends her book by promoting education and meaningful work as the ultimate method by which American women can avoid becoming trapped in the feminine mystique, calling for a drastic rethinking of what it means to be feminine, and offering several educational and occupational suggestions. The media perpetuated the notion that women went to college only to land a husband—the “Mrs. "[6], The phrase "feminine mystique" was created by Friedan to show the assumptions that women would be fulfilled from their housework, marriage, sexual lives, and children. Its arguments, broadly speaking, were less relevant, because twice as many women were in the workforce as had been during the 1950s. Betty Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique to illuminate the plight of American women during the mid-nineteenth century. The number of women in college dropped from 47 percent in 1920 to 35 percent in 1958. [12], Chapter 11: Friedan notes that many housewives have sought fulfillment in sex, unable to find it in housework and children; Friedan notes that sex cannot fulfill all of a person's needs, and that attempts to make it do so often drive married women to have affairs or drive their husbands away as they become obsessed with sex. With its call for women to leave the home and enter the workplace, The Feminine Mystique paved the way for the women's liberation movement and became a bestseller. Friedan traces the return of women to domestic life after their pre-World War II emancipation. The programme also contains archive recordings of Friedan herself. In addition, Friedan has been criticized for focusing solely on the plight of middle-class white women, and not giving enough attention to the differing situations encountered by women in less stable economic situations, or women of other races. Many women dropped out of school early to marry, afraid that if they waited too long or became too educated, they would not be able to attract a husband. In 1966, Friedan joined forces with Pauli Murray and Aile… [29], In 2014 the Betty Friedan Hometown Tribute committee won the Superior Achievement award in the special projects category for its 50th anniversary celebration of the publication of The Feminine Mystique. Jo Fidgen speaks to two of Betty Friedan's children, Johnathan and Emily. NOW demanded the removal of all barriers to "equal and economic advance". Jo Fidgen speaks to two of Betty Friedan's children, Johnathan and Emily. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. She discusses the conflicts that some women may face in this journey to self-actualization, including their own fears and resistance from others. [12], Chapter 10: Friedan interviews several full-time housewives, finding that although they are not fulfilled by their housework, they are all extremely busy with it. It is the most famous of Betty Friedan’s works, and it made her a household name. The mystique is the constant barrage of homemaker-nurturer-mother images that esteem the virtue of …

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