The feminine mystique by betty friedan is an iconic book that relentlessly changed the way the american woman saw herself, until its first publication in 1963. Analysis of betty friedan s the feminine mystique cram. Chronicle of higher education rachel shteir a bridge between conservative and radical elements in feminism, an ardent advocate of harmony and human values. She found that many of her former classmates had gotten married, had. It is often credited with starting the secondwave feminism in the united states. Feb 10, 20 the problem was the feminine mystique, which was also the title of her groundbreaking book, published 50 years ago. This work challenged women to move beyond the drudgery of suburban housewifery and. The feminine mystique betty friedan, gail collins, anna quindlen isbn.
Betty friedans 1963 book the feminine mystique helped drive the modern. Betty friedan the feminine mystique quotes popsugar love. While many book critics immediately recognized the potential in friedans book when it was released in 1963. Feminists of the 1960s and 1970s would later say the feminine mystique was the book that started it all.
Reading stephanie coontzs new book a strange stirring, i was reminded that the slogan women are people too was actually the title of a 1960 good housekeeping article by betty friedanthe article that foreshadowed her 1963 bestseller the feminine mystique. The feminine mystique, is considered partially responsible for ushering in second wave feminism, or a feminist movements which began midcentury and included a broad range of issues such as. The feminine mystique is a book by betty friedan first published in 1963. The feminine mystique was hugely influential in womens movement. The feminine mystique 1963 is a powerful critique of womens roles in contemporary american society. This short book summary will be the first of three which collectively focus on a mix of contemporary and classic feminist texts. She coined the term feminine mystique to describe the societal assumption that women could find fulfillment through housework, marriage, sexual passivity, and child rearing alone.
The feminine mystique is the false notion that a womans role in society is to be a wife, mother, and housewife nothing else. Published in 1963, it gave a pitchperfect description of the problem that has no name. Friedan began writing this piece after she attended her fifteenyear college reunion at smith, a womans college. Despite focusing on the seemingly small problems of middle class white women, the legacy of the book.
After the book the feminine mystique was published in 1963, many women began reaching out to one another, pouring out their anger and sadness in what came to be known as consciousnessraising sessions. Mystique 1963, i wasnt even conscious of the woman problem. Today marks the 50th anniversary of betty friedans the feminine mystique, the controversial 1963 book that made waves among women and reignited the feminist conversation in america. Since its first publication, critics and popular readers have been sharply divided on their assessment of the work. The feminine mystique derived its power from freudian thought.
Four decades later, millions of individual transformations later, there is still so much to learn from this book. My mother is reading a paperback book at the kitchen table. The feminine mystique is a 1963 book by betty friedan which is widely credited with sparking the beginning of secondwave feminism in the united states. The feminine mystique by betty friedan is published history. February 4, 1921 february 4, 2006 was an american feminist writer and activist. And while, even in those benighted days, women were not exactly thought of as less.
Social change and betty friedans the feminine mystique core. Drawing on new scholarship in the social sciences, betty friedan attacked a wide range of institutionsamong them womens magazines, womens colleges, and advertisersfor promoting a onedimensional image of women as happy housewives. When i read friedans seminal 1963 work the feminine mystique at age 16, it changed my lifefor the first time, i understood that feminism could be. When betty friedan produced the feminine mystique in 1963, she could not have realized how the discovery and debate of her contemporaries general malaise would shake up society. The suburban houewlfeshe of the efican women it was said, of women all over the world. When the feminine mystique was first published in 1963, it exploded into american consciousness. Friedans findings provided a cleareyed analysis of the issues that affected womens lives in the decades after the second world war, and became the basis to her book, the feminine mystique. 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. 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. Nov 05, 2019 her book, the feminine mystique, published on february 19, 1963, shook the ground beneath an american society rooted in a myth of pleasant domesticity and supported by the physical and emotional. The feminine mystique, revisited books and culture.
The results revealed that many women shared the same frustrations as her in their roles as housewives and mothers. It said that middleclass society stifled women and didnt let them use their talents. And if they are to win it women must have all the ammunition they can of the calibre. Published in 1963, it gave a pitchperfect description of. Published in 1963, the feminine mystique dissected the prevailing mystique of the blissful suburban housewife, and it helped launch the feminist movement. Tess taylor betty friedans the feminine mystique was first published in the united states in 1963 by w. This is the book that defined the problem that has no name, that launched the second wave of the feminist movement, and. The book, which focused on the problem that has no name, promoted awareness of societys pressure on. Human potential psychology entered the mainstream mass culture in the late 1950s and 1960s.
This 50thanniversary edition features an afterword by bestselling author anna quindlen as well as a new introduction by gail collins. The mystique is an artificial idea of femininity that says having a career andor fulfilling ones individual potential somehow go against womens preordained role. If, then, there is still a feminist fight to be fought it is for the right to work. The feminine mystique should be required reading for anyone who cares about women. Rethinking betty friedan and the feminine mystique.
Jan 11, 20 this short book summary will be the first of three which collectively focus on a mix of contemporary and classic feminist texts. It is the most famous of betty friedans works, and it made her a household name. Her book, the feminine mystique, published on february 19, 1963. Most critics were polarized in their views of the book. In 1966, friedan cofounded and was elected the first. The feminine mystique project gutenberg selfpublishing. Her book, the feminine mystique, published on february 19, 1963, shook the ground beneath an american society rooted in a myth of pleasant. Betty friedan, after experiencing feelings of depression, selfloathing, and dissatisfaction as a mother and housewife, published the feminine mystique in 1963. The problem that betty friedan describes in her 1963 work, the feminine mystique, is the dissatisfaction of suburban housewives. Arianna huffington, o, the oprah magazinelandmark, groundbreaking, classicthese adjectives barely do justice to the pioneering vision and lasting impact of the feminine mystique. I hope to provide people with a general overview of each book, the author and the social context in which the book was written. The feminine mystique 50th anniversary edition by betty. Betty friedan was especially influenced by the works of abraham maslow. The feminine mystique 50th anniversary edition betty.
Landmark, groundbreaking, classicthese adjectives barely do justice to the pioneering vision and lasting impact of the feminine mystique. In truth, the feminine mystiques 50year shelf life got off to a somewhat rocky start. Arianna huffington, o, the oprah magazine landmark, groundbreaking, classicthese adjectives barely do justice to the pioneering vision and lasting impact of the feminine mystique. The feminine mystique now feels both revolutionary and utterly contemporary. The feminine mystique chapters 5 8 summary and analysis. Today, the feminine mystique seems far from freaky, at times even. The problem was the feminine mystique, which was also the title of her groundbreaking book, published 50 years ago. Friedans push helped women find equal footing betty friedans 1963 book the feminine mystique helped drive the modern womens movement. Harvard historian nancy cott discusses friedans legacy with debbie elliott. Perhaps guessing at how far she might push an audience whose consciousness. In 1957, friedan was asked to conduct a survey of her former smith college classmates for their 15th anniversary reunion. The feminine mystique, a landmark book by feminist betty friedan published in 1963 that described the pervasive dissatisfaction among women in mainstream american society in the postworld war ii period.
Feminine mystique 1963 to the emergence of the second wave womens liberation. This work challenged women to move beyond the drudgery of suburban housewifery and helped launch what would become secondwave feminism. Her work propelled the stagnant womens rights movement into its second wave and helped women reclaim some equality. Some of us in 1963, nearly half of all women in the united. Betty friedans 1963 book, the feminine mystique, a. Almost onethird of married women in the united states were part of the paid labor force by 1960.
She prepared a questionaire for 200 of her classmates at this reunion. That being said, this book was pretty bad for two main reasons. It was and is important because it helped encourage so many women, during that. The feminine mystique 1963 betty friedan depicted how difficult a womans life is because she doesnt think about herself, only her family. 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. The book that changed the consciousness of a countryand the world. Historians need to explore further the influence of human potential. The feminine mystique discussed the glorified ideal happysuburbanhousewife image that was marketed to many women as their best if not their only option in life. The author and activist died saturday of congestive heart failure. Friedan influenced the push for the 1963 equal pay act, the budding. Marilyn french esquire the feminine mystique now feels both revolutionary and utterly contemporary.
The feminine mystique by betty friedan 2 5 laurelrain snow august, 2018 at 11. Landmark, groundbreaking, classicthese adjectives barely describe the earthshaking and longlasting effects of betty friedans the feminine mystique. As has been well acknowledged, there really were two. Victims of a false belief system, these women were following strict social convention by loyally conforming to the pretty image of the magazines, and found themselves. In the feminine mystique, betty friedan put a spotlight on the hidden, yet immense problems women faced during the 1950s. Norton in 1957, friedan was asked to conduct a survey of her former smith college classmates for their 15th anniversary reunion. The feminine mystique by friedan, first edition abebooks.
Mar 01, 2010 the book that changed the consciousness of a countryand the world. Part social chronicle, part manifesto, the feminine mystique is filled with fascinating anecdotes and interviews as well as insights that continue to inspire. The feminine mystique sparked a national debate about womens roles and in time was recognized as one of the central. To ask other readers questions about the feminine mystique, please sign up. The feminine mystique to take a job in a realestate office. The feminine mystique simple english wikipedia, the free. Inspired by a questionnaire friedan then a suburban housewife sent to her classmates from the smith 1942 class. Since its first publication in 1963, millions of people have read the feminine. Jan 14, 2019 the feminine mystique by betty friedan, published in 1963, is often seen as the beginning of the womens liberation movement. The feminine mystique by betty friedan, published in 1963, is often seen as the beginning of the womens liberation movement.
The feminine mystique by betty friedan is published. 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. A leading figure in the womens movement in the united states, her 1963 book the feminine mystique is often credited with sparking the second wave of american feminism in the 20th century. The book explores the desire of many women in america in the 1950s and 1960s to become housewives and mothers rather than pursuing careers of their own.
Rising literacy rates in the last two centuries have seen this type of political writing take on a. The book, which focused on the problem that has no name, promoted awareness of societys pressure on women to be seen in a certain way, especially in advertising. The strength of the feminine mystique is that it evokes the past so vividly youll think youre reading a modern history until youre jolted back into reality by those occasional tonedeaf moments. Her book, the feminine mystique, published on february 19, 1963, shook the ground beneath an american society rooted in a myth of pleasant domesticity and supported by the physical and emotional.
Social change and betty friedans the feminine mystique. When betty friedans the feminine mystique was first published in the united states in 1963, it exploded into american consciousness. The feminine mystique is a book by betty friedan that is widely credited with sparking the beginning of secondwave feminism in the united states. All she wanted, she said, was what every other american girl wantedto get married, have four children and live in a nice house in a nicesubtrrty. Those who think of it as solely a feminist manifesto ought to revisit its pages to get a sense of the magnitude of the research and reporting friedan.
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