Why Was Betty Friedan Important To The Feminist Movement?

Betty Friedan wrote the book based on a survey she did for her former Smith College classmates on the their fifteenth anniversary reunion. The results of the survey showed that many of her former classmates were unhappy, despite being affluent and married with children. The reason her Smith College alumnus were so unhappy was due to the fact that their lives consisted of taking care of her family and children, but not doing anything that held significance to themselves and the nation. Her book The Feminine Mystique, was a major influence of the 1960s and 70s American Feminist Movement, selling 1.4 million copies.The Feminine Mystique, made in 1963 is a nonfiction book that is based on the lives and unhappiness housewives felt during the early 50s and 60s. The reason this book was so popular and influenced the 1960s and 70s American Feminist Movement was due to the books widespread relatability among housewives who were financially stable with children, the book impelled women to fight for a change in salary, the workplace, and laws; during a time where women did not have the same equal rights as men. Another popular writer during the 1960s and 70s American Feminist Movement is Robin Morgan. Robin Morgan is an

In her essay “The Importance of Work,” from The Feminine Mystique published in 1963, Betty Friedan confronts American women’s search for identity. Throughout the novel, Betty Friedan broke new ground by seeking the idea of women discovering personal fulfillment away from their original roles. She ponders on the idea of the Feminine Mystique as the cause for the majority of women during that time period to feel confined by their occupations around the house, restricting them from discovering who they are as women. Friedan’s novel is well known for creating a different kind of feminism and rousing various women across the nation.

Betty Friedan, who lived from 1921-2006, constructed her activism through her writing. She wrote for trade unions and magazines, and later, at the age of 42, published her best known work The Feminine Mystique. This book stirred up a following among urban, white, middle-class American women who felt that their male counterparts

Friedan paints the feminine woman of this time as having feelings of emptiness, non-existence and nothingness. She illustrates these problems that women face by telling the reader that the experts blame their feelings on the higher education they have received before becoming a housewife. All women are searching for is a human identity, a place where they belong without feeling empty. But the women before this generation fought for all the rights they have in the present, but they are not using them. But how can one change this dehumanizing aspect of the culture?

Strong-willed, intelligent, and motivated are only some of the words we can use to describe Betty Friedan. Credited as being the mother of the second wave of feminism, Friedan was an influential women’s right activist during the twentieth century but her legacy has continued to strive well into the twenty-first century. Friedan is the author of a variety of books including The Feminine Mystique, which became a phenomenon because of its powerful message to women for self-exploration outside their traditional roles. This book helped to define Friedan’s role in the fight for women empowerment and equality. It evoked emotions in many women who agreed that they did not want to fulfil traditional roles, creating an atmosphere of change. She was also the cofounder of the National Organization for Women (NOW), serving as its first president and also helped to create the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws and the National Women’s Political Caucus. With these organizations, Friedan became the face of the women’s movement and encouraged women to take a stand against the pathological idealization of women by creating a sense of community

Betty Friedan believed that women should feel and be treated equal to men. Friedan fought for women to embody their power and worth. She was an activist for the women’s rights movement and a founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Her book, The Feminine Mystique, connected with her readers by illustrating the standards that women were put under for decades. In the 60’s, women were viewed as nothing but maids and child-bearers. Many women were hesitant to take a stand for this taboo subject; their own rights. Friedan took initiative when everyone else was afraid to. Betty Friedan’s contribution clearly advanced the progression of women’s equality. She accomplished this by writing her famous book, giving a debatable speech, and founding the National Organization for Women.

Betty Friedan advanced the Women’s Rights Movement in many ways. One of them being the publishing of the Feminine Mystique. The Feminine Mystique vented

Women's rights leader and activist Betty Freidan was born in 1921 to Russian Jewish immigrants. A summa cum laude graduate of Smith College in 1942, Friedan trained as a psychologist at University of California, Berkeley, but became a suburban housewife and mother in New York, supplementing her husband’s income by writing freelance articles for women’s magazines.

In 1963 there was the second wave of the women’s movement when Betty Friedan published her book The Feminine Mystique, which sole purpose was to point out the, “problem that has no name” (understanding feminism by peta Bowden). The context of the book described that women were being forced to live under their true

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.

Gloria Steinem was one of the most important leaders of the second wave of the women’s rights movement. As both an indirect and direct leader, she embodied her story by giving speeches and writing books and articles to help empower women across the United States and beyond. As she grew up in American society where sexism was present, she told an innovative story with visionary elements to prove to women that they were more than what society said they were. Her strong and feisty personality added to her success and I will argue that these factors along with her appearance helped her to be a major player and the face of the women’s rights movement.

    The feminism movement throughout the 1900’s showed much progression to equality in western society. It was this pivotal century that set the ball rolling for important women’s rights, including women’s suffrage in 1920, John F. Kennedy passing the Equal Pay Act in 1963, and even sparked revolutionary women such as Amelia Earhart, one of the first female pilots. But like all new changes there was room for improvement. This is where great speakers such as journalist Gloria Steinem stepped in. On May 6, 1970, Steinem spoke before Congress on the equal rights amendment as a supporter for female equality. She goes on to describe that still into the 1970’s that women were being socially discriminated

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.

“First wave” of feminism in 1920 advocated women’s suffrage, whereas the “Second wave” targets the societal issues that women in the 21st century are facing. Betty Friedan wrote The Feminists Mystique after World War II exposing female repression and later founded the National Organization for Women (NOW) which ignited the second wave of the feminist movement. Consequently, it became noticeable that women were in multiple wars, as a result branches of feminists were formed (i.e. Liberalist, Marxist, and Socialist). Misogyny’s evolution has its own significant role in the feminist movement, stirring conversations today that affect feminist ideologies. However, in order to fully comprehend what affects second wave feminism along with the tactics utilized by feminists, one must first become acquainted with the many forms.

Betty Friedan wrote that "the only way for a woman, as for a man, to find herself, to know herself as a person, is by creative work of her own." The message here is that women need more than just a husband, children, and a home to feel fulfilled; women need independence and creative outlets, unrestrained by the pressures of society. Throughout much of history, women have struggled with the limited roles society imposed on them. The belief that women were intellectually inferior, physically weaker, and overemotional has reinforced stereotypes throughout history. In the 1960s, however, women challenged their roles as "the happy little homemakers." Their story is the story of the Women's Liberation