The Femenine Mystique and Feminist Theory: From Margin to Theory

In “From Books As Bombs” by Louis Menand, the author talks about “The Feminine Mystique” that was published by Betty Friedan and her argumentative points on the true meaning behind being a housewife. Betty Friedan was the first president of the National Organization for Women and sought to gain rights for working women. She began documenting and recording facts from her classmates. “Friedman campaigned on behalf of the rights of working women when she was still a student at Smith.” One of her major points in the book is that “women were worse of in 1963, then they had been in 1963”. Reason being is because most jobs were taken by men and the amount of women accepted to college decreased due to gender. Friedman wants to further propose that

First, during this time frame, the normal 50s family would be a hard-working father who supported the household while the mother took care of home economics, such as cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the family. Friedan personally felt women were being cheated from their true potential and purpose. Although her statement was a bit exaggerated, it was for that reason the book was a success or failure to some. Either way, more than 2 million copies were sold and she was able to pass the concept of new feminism.

The feminist movement of the 1960’s focused solely on the improvement and well- being of women. The idea of Feminism is a critical theory as it is an analytical examination of social conditions and what tools could be utilized to proactively improve these conditions. Overcoming the consistent barriers women had to endure during this era remains prevalent and continues to have psychological effects. In order to strengthen one’s mindset regarding feminism, we must first refer back and understand the intellectual history of the women’s movement and examine areas of how counseling can assist with overcoming these impediments. The Feminist philosophy is the philosophical dimension of intellectual feminism. Many philosophers understand their intellectual history and the history of the women's movement in terms of three "waves."

In The Feminist Mystique, Betty Friedan combats the notion that women could only find fulfillment and be successful by having children and taking care of the home. This book sparked a re-emergence in the feminist movement and is widely attributed for converting more supporters for the cause. Her book describes the unhappy status of women in the ‘50s and 60’s and found her proof by holding interviews with women and also researching many topics. She discusses topics such as the fact that men wrote the women’s magazines, early feminists, female education and how it was changing, and the lack of fulfillment housewives felt in their everyday duties. The Feminist Mystique is reputed to be one of the most influential books in the 1960s.

Betty Friedan was revolutionary of her time,through her infamous book The Feminine Mystique “suburban housewifes” expressed their perspective on the social mores of the 1950s. Friedan effortlessly expressed her stance of the social constructs of this oppressive time for women.When Frieden stated this quote in her book she was referring to difficult sociopolitical status of women during the 1950s. During , the 1950s it was not socially acceptable for women to work out of the home. The greatest pleasure a women would receive was devotedly taking care of her husband.The 1950s was a time of regression , women were put back into their boxes built by the materialistic society of the 50s.If a women did not have a trim figure with short maintained

women were seen as inferiors to men. They were expected to be stay-at-home housewives and not bother working at jobs. Many women during the 60s, however, wanted to be independent from their husbands. In Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” she urged women to “establish professional lives of their own”. Organizations such as the National Organization for Women helped women find their ground in gaining the treatment of equality they surely needed.

In the book The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan brings attention to what she calls the feminine mystique, or “the problem that has no name”. Through the use of anecdotal narratives, her own personal experiences as a journalist, editor, mother, and the interviews of many women from different backgrounds in order to unveil the truth about the women of the 1950’s. The problem which sparked the second wave of feminism in the United States is one that focuses on the inequality between men and women and the undervaluing of women in both the social and private spheres. The women of the time gave up pursuing their passions, such as getting an education or careers in science or business in order to fit the image of the stereotypical stay-at-home mom whose main goal in life is to raise her children while providing a safe and comforting home for her husband. The Feminine Mystique, as she called it, was the idea of widespread unhappiness of women, despite the preconceived notion that women were happiest when they have a family. Throughout her work, she dives into many of the problems associated with the feminine mystique and builds a powerful concept of what would eventually be labeled feminism.

In Friedan’s ‘The Feminine Mystique”, she addresses the unspoken problem of women, especially housewives, in the 1950’s and 60’s. Women were taught to be a mother and wife and to embrace their femininity. They were also taught to reject academia and “pity the neurotic, unfeminine, unhappy women who wanted to be poets, physicists, or presidents.” These women were consuming what was given to them in pop culture. They dyed their hair blonde and ate chalk to lose weight. The dream for women during this time was to be the perfect suburban housewife, which included a good marriage, four children, and nice house in the suburbs.

Betty Friedan wrote the Feminine Mystique in 1963. It acted as a catalyst that started discussion of the elephant in suburbia’s living rooms. Wives and mothers were fed up with simply being wives and mothers and wanted to do more with their lives. While this may seem like a simple issue with a simple fix such as getting a hobby or extracurricular activity, Friedan present’s this as a multidimensional issue rooted deep within the nation’s history.

Betty Friedan knew that women were in depression over the fact that women couldn’t be viewed as equal and being able to do the same thing as men. She wrote the book to produce an image to the American population of how women tried to integrate in contempt of their lack of fulfillment. In the Feminine Mystique, she states “Each suburban wife struggles with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night- she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question-- 'Is this all?” (Friedan). She takes the time to notice that women across the country are living in a world where they are scared to step up and attempt to be more and above the norm of society. She wants women to realize they aren’t alone on the aspect of wanting to be more than just a house wife. Women need to start being creative in their own work and doing so will help them know herself as a

Betty Friedan explores the troubles that women have faced and the reason behind these troubles in The Feminine Mystique. She defines the “feminine mystique” as a limitation set on women’s femininity across America in the 1950s and early 1960s. She explains how she believes it came to be so widely upheld due to magazines written by men and how it has had an effect on women in a negative way. According to Friedan, due to the feminine mystique developed from magazine stories, society forces women to abandon any career aspirations in order to devote their lives to being housewives and mothers, as well as be completely fulfilled with this life path.

This article focuses on Betty Friedan and the Feminine Mystique. Fraterrigo examines the Feminine Mystique and the problem has no name. She focuses on Friedan disapproval of housework bring an ultimate fulfillment for a woman. Friedan says that society encourages women to embrace the role of a wife and mother. She blamed advertisers, experts, and educators for encouraging woman’s place in the home. During those time, women chose security over striving for a sense of self, because the only occupation they were encouraged to have was a housewife. The woman was confined

In The Feminine Mystique, Friedan embarks on a journey to discover “the problem [that] lay buried, unspoken for many years in the minds of American women. It was a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century in the United States. Each suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night—she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question— “Is this all?’” (Friedan 1).

In the “The Feminine Mystique,” by Betty Friedan, the author begins to question “the problem that has no name,” which is, “Why are American housewives so unhappy with their supposedly “perfect’ lives”? Friedan concludes that the reason American housewives are so depressed is that of, “the feminine mystique,” society’s idea that women’s sole purpose in life is to bring pleasure to a man, be a housewife and mother, but nothing more. In the 50’s and 60’s, all American women had been told their whole lives is that they shouldn’t get a job or follow their dreams, but find a well-off husband and start a family. Now that they have accomplished this, women want more in life than just waiting on their family, because of the feeling that they are “just going through the motions” of life. However, society does not allow women to grow to their full potential and brainwashes the mystique into women’s heads by painting the housewife image as an ideal in women’s magazines, ads, signs, etc. Furthermore, because the mystique is so influential, women not only damage themselves, but their husbands and children; Women begin to seek their fulfillment through too much sexual intercourse, which drives the husband away, and is so involved in their children’s lives, that they grow up to be whiny, mother-dependent adults. In the end, women finally begin to not only question the feminine mystique but act against it.

According to Friedan, in the 1950-1960s magazines portrayed images of happy women, content at being homemakers and mothers, thus creating the "feminine mystique"- the idea that women can find no greater purpose but the fulfilment of their own femininity. Friedan claims that men, the writers and editors of women’s magazines, who often dictated the media message, constructed this feminine ideal. It was the root of the discontent of suburban women. She juxtaposed this with the 1930s when mass circulation magazines featured strong and independent women involved in successful careers.