The Feminine Mystique: The Donna Reed Show

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.

The American public thought that these women were happy being housewives and raising kids but in fact “millions of house wives were in fact desperately unhappy” (Coontz 4). All this lead to a large feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s to give women more purpose other than a mother and a housewife.

1. The largest difference in editorial content from the recent issue of Today’s Woman magazine compared to Frieden’s list is the indication of female accomplishment. Frieden’s concerns and critiques described situations where housewives would have metaphorically traded brains for brooms which is reflected in the title of her piece, “Happy Housewife Syndrome”. The majority of content in Today’s Woman displayed women who took initiative and early action in order to achieve their goals whereas topics in McCall’s discussed the nature of a housewife’s duties. The change in content displays the accomplishments and growth for female roles in modern society due to better gender equality than that present in the 1960s. Part of this empowerment can be seen in images of women in Today’s Woman seen as doctors, shop owners, and generally in roles of leadership that would not have displayed in women’s magazines in the 1960s.

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

Our PowerPoint lecture defines Values Feminists as people who think that there is no universal choice that would be the best for all women, which means that certain options are better than others. In the 1950s to 1960’s, America’s role of women are as homemakers. Women marry early, and their perceived purpose in life is to get married, serve his husband well, and bear his kids. This concept was considered as every woman’s dream, and if it wasn’t- women would consider that something must be wrong with them. With Betty Friedman’s observations, she noticed that more and more women experienced dissatisfaction and questioned their lives’ worth by being stay-at-home moms. She stated that problems like these were not openly talked about, as it does not fall into the category of femininity. She then stated that “We can no longer ignore that voice

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 “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.

Throughout the ages, women have lived in what can be considered “a man’s world.” Salary gaps, social stigmas, and hypocritical expectations are simply a few of the many challenges that women face even today. In the two articles provided, the authors address distinct differences they feel contribute to the hurdles they face. In Judy Brady’s essay “I Want a Wife,” the writer focuses on the unrealistic expectations and requirements of a housewife in the early 1970’s. In contrast, Anna Quindlen speaks, not of man’s set standards, but of the natural differences in thinking between men and women in her article “Between the Sexes.” Both essays concentrate on the challenges these women are presented within their modern day; however, they are presented from different angles.

Feminist critics seek to recognize the ways in which women are oppressed socially, politically, economically, and psychologically in a given society. Women cannot be satisfied due to the fact of their own gender being a superstructure. The “mystique” essence people use as the excuse for not being able to relate to women is impractical. The feminine mystique is the artificial notion that a woman’s “role” is to be a housewife. Women are at war with themselves based primarily by the influences and received idea on them and their place in society. It is an unanswered questions, why women cannot feel satisfied, and I believe it has to do with the relationships between a mother and daughter, as well as former stereotypes lingering in the minds. Women in the working world want their daughters to stay in the home, and the women who stay in the home want their daughters to distinguish themselves with education and/or a career. Why there is a reversal, I have no idea. But again, why is there a struggle with the women identity? Throughout the book, The Feminine Mystique written by Betty Friedan, it is apparent women are never satisfied with their identity from the affects by having a patriarch society. The problem that has no name will stay a mystery because the overwhelming stereotypes of women are conflicting within one another.

The Second Wave of the feminist movement did not start until the 1960’s, this wave was unfolded in the context of anti-war and civil rights movements, as well as equal rights in the workplace. As the at the time new trend of feminism magazines began to pick-up on societal changes, showcasing women working instead of being in their home along with portraying women being successful, and having a purpose that went beyond being the perfect All-American housewife like like Lucy Ricardo from I Love Lucy. Betty Friedan the author to the book The Feminine Mystique spoke about how women had been told that they lived the ideal lives with nice houses, lovely children, and responsible husbands but were burdened by domesticity, they were too socially conditioned to recognize their own desperation. As Friedman 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?” (p. 57) The question of “Is this all?” is not only asked by suburban housewives, but by the whole world. The idea of a daily routine and not a lot of “me” time for a housewife could lead to her not thinking for herself. In this modern day most families own a car which means housewifes are not really constrained at the same effect that housewives were constrained to back then. These women are now able to get groceries drive around, and with the new birth of social media they are able to keep up with friends and become more social through the web. The technological boom that we have experienced this past decade has been able to shift the way women feel in their homes. As for the

From her book The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan explores “the problem that has no name”. Women at this time were expected to find fulfilment in their roles as a wife, a mother, and a housekeeper. Wanting to do masculine things will, somehow, not only rob a woman of her femininity but also make her undesirable and immoral (Friedan, 1582). Friedan conducted a study focusing on women in the 1920s and 1930s who exercised their independence. She noticed how the women of the 1950s were far from such self-determination and instead facing an identity crisis and were feeling incapable and worthless (Friedan, 1584). There was deep dissatisfaction common to all housewives but it was talked about by no one for fear of being perceived as an undignified woman (Friedan, 1583). Ingrained in people’s minds was the “feminine mystique”, a mysterious, intangible quality that all women have (they were told); and once women entered their mystique, they would reach their fulfillment. This was the belief that women should want to achieve femininity as a wife, a

“I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am a wife...I, too, would like to have a wife.” In the 1960’s and 70’s women were expected to live a very simple life: raise kids, take care of the home, and serve your husband, but, as various causes for social change arose like movements for the protection of the environment, gay rights, and civil rights, so did the the feminist movement and its opposition to those same expectations. in the United States. Women like Betty Friedan started writing books like The Feminine Mystique and women who felt unhappy and frustrated with their lifestyles wanted to do more. Educated women felt In an excerpt from Judy Brady’s 1971 essay I Want a Wife Brady uniquely explains the plight of women

In the Book, Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan begins to explain the different shifts of women’s thinking when it came to “her place.” In the fifties, many of the times, the women were the cookie cutter homemakers. These women focused on nothing but pleasing their husbands and children. These women used all of their time and energy on having a clean home, food on the table, multiple children, and a martini ready for their husband when he walked in the door. Women were looking to find a degree or have a career for themselves; Friedan said that many of the times, women went to college to find their MRS degree. The women back in time were living in a man’s world; another concern for Friedan was the fact that men created the magazines women were reading. This showed that women could not escape a man’s wants or needs. These magazines impressions were brainwashing to the women seeing that they did not understand anything else. A theme that I caught

In The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan presents several arguments that dealt with the issues of personal engagement and equality that women of the time faced, calling it, “the problem that has no name.” Friedan describes an ideal that middle-class women of the 1960s were held to. She highlights that women were “chained” to kitchens and their spouses and children, while their dreams of careers and college degrees were suppressed. These women had goals and dreams, and they wanted more, but as Friedan describes, it was nearly impossible to break through the “feminine mystique.” Friedan argues that the stereotypes, occupations, and marriages that the women held caused the feminine mystique, however, she misses important structural issues, such

“Honey, I’m home!” the husband announces to the home. Here come the kids running to greet dad at the door and his wife following close behind. As to be expected all the laundry has been washed, ironed, and put away neatly. The house is spotless like it was never touched by sticky fingers and dinner is already on the table. This was the stereotype of the 1970’s housewife. Judy Brady’s “I Want A Wife” judges the stereotypical gender roles of the 1970’s that wives are meant to take care of the needs of their husbands.