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Contribution pf betty friedan in womens movement analysing the feminine mystique
Contribution pf betty friedan in womens movement analysing the feminine mystique
Impact of betty friedan in the second wave feminism
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Scott, Anne Firor. Women in American Life. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1970. Shi, David E. and Mayer, Holly A. For The Record.
Several social changes in the post-war years opened women to feminism's message. P. 2, The demand for a larger and more skilled labor pool generated by the Cold War, and postwar consumer economy were the driving force cause American society to become more open to feminism’s message. No doubt WW II created the demand for expanded women’s roles in the workplace, Document 1. Having proved their equal abilities during the war, they stood ready willing and able to contribute moving forward. Nevertheless attitudes toward women staying in the workforce after World War II were not favorable.
During World War 2, women began to enter the workforce on a large scale, making up almost 50% by 1960. Despite making up a large portion of the workforce, there was still a need for major reform, as businesses paid women less than men for the same work, and women had limited access to high-paying, prestigious jobs, like doctors or lawyers. In addition, many housewives felt dissatisfied and undervalued, as depicted in Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. The increase in female workers, coupled with the changing expectations of women, led to the growth of the women’s movement.
Susan Oliver writes an exceptional biography that describes in detail the life, success, struggles and failures of Betty Friedan. From her childhood as a divergent American-Jew living in Peoria, Illinois to being an outstanding student and writer in school, finding her path as a strong feminist at Smith College, her struggles as a mother and wife to mothering the second feminist movement. Susan Oliver explored all the factors that contributed to Betty Friedan’s strong private and public persona. Betty Friedan, a driving force of the second feminist movement, is barely recognized for the emancipation of women. Mostly known as the author of the Feminine Mystique, Susan Oliver made sure to demonstrate that Betty Friedan was more than a mere
Wong states that women’s “job used to be no job”(Wong), implying that before the movement of feminism, women didn’t have to work as they do now. She then goes on to state that women should “have done the smart thing, which would have been to continue playing dumb for the next century”(Wong). Before the times of feminism, women were expected to stay at home, however, with the start of the feminist movement, women with the use of their intelligence fought for the right to have equal pay, rather than using their intelligence to do the smart thing and stay at home. Although the concept of working during the start of the feminist movement might have sounded appealing, today women are now expected to work. Wong’s initial controversial statement now allows the audience to imagine what their lives could have been if feminism didn’t happen.
The search of identity is an issue familiar to contemporary society as well as to the society of 1963 when Betty Friedan published her feminist manifesto The Feminine Mystique. The main idea of Friedan 's article, "The Importance of Work," is the question of how individuals can recognize their full capacities and achieve identity. She argues that human identity is meaningful purposeful work, and individuals are not identified as women or men, just human based upon their work. Friedan believes work is what an individual does in his or her life; for example, snowboarding, songwriting, hockey, football etc. Friedan was an author, an activist, and the first president of the National Organization for Women.
In Friedan’s piece she stated, “And the women’s magazines, deploring the unhappy statistics about these young marriages, urged that courses on marriage, and marriage counselors, be installed in the high schools” (p. 10). This shows that America was pushing for women in this age to marry young and produce children even if she is unhappy with her marriage. Betty Friedan’s stance on this lifestyle for women was that is was destructive to a woman’s identity and belief in herself. In her piece she interviewed a woman who stated, “I begin to feel I have no personality. I’m a server of food and a putter-on of pants and a bedmaker, somebody who can be called on when you want something.
The women were expected to create a happy home, guard the religion, and the morality of her family. The unmarried and married women who tried to seek work outside the home faced limited employment opportunities because of their gender. Women were expected to only focus on domestic duties and her role were limited to continue living in the man’s world. Women roles were expected to be in line with the culture and norms set by the society. The American culture perceived that women were not intellectually and emotionally stable to be involved in the complex world of work and, therefore, women did not take up leadership and political roles.
Females go through their whole lives without being noticed of what they do or did for men because they were and may still be seen as just a “keeper.” Woman stopped being known as the “Keeper” because in 1960, Betty Friedan fought back and females everywhere joined in to fight the oppression and the idea roles they were suppose to portray as housewives and
In the second half of the 1900s, the United States slowly camouflaged to a more gender-unified society. With that notion, women were desperate to reinforce their equalities and prove their capabilities. Therefore, the issuing dates of the two publications, Silences by Tillie Olsen and Still Just writing by Anne Tyler, effect the significance of the plots immensely. Thus, since the ultimate female task throughout generations was the bearing and rearing of offspring accompanied by mundane household chores, the introduction of corporate positions and professions appealed tremendously to the typical housewife. Yet, the juggling of the two roles of mother and career proved to be challenging for many.
Despite its dull, ordinary setting, “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen is an extremely deep short story covering complex socio-economic issues spanning over two—very eventful—decades. The story shows how economic hardships could physically alter the stereotypical gender roles, while cultural traditions kept them mentally intact. When these two elements contradicted each other, they left women, like Tillie Olsen’s character, feeling emotionally responsible for the consequences. Although her husband left her and she was forced to assume the role of both the breadwinner and the homemaker at only nineteen years old, she blames herself for neglecting what was thought to be her primary duty as a woman: motherhood. As the reader can tell from
Friedan’s Chapter One and Two Karly Marin Sacramento State University Communication Studies Major Gender Ideology Introduction Women play a pivotal role in the growth and development of social, economic and political spheres. There are countable women in the history of the world who have made remarkable contributions to the various spheres. Their accounts are recorded in books, magazines and journals amongst others. The Feminine Mystique is one of the books that received a wide audience in the 1950s.
“Generally, men are socialized into believing that their essential role in life is to work outside the home and provide for the family while women are taught that their main role is to be homemakers” (Akotia and Anum 5024). The breadwinner is normally thought of as a man, but Lena puts a twist on that gender role. “You the head of this family. You run our lives like you want to” (Hansberry 1948). Lena breaks the gender role
During the 1890’s until today, the roles of women and their rights have severely changed. They have been inferior, submissive, and trapped by their marriage. Women have slowly evolved into individuals that have rights and can represent “feminine individuality”. The fact that they be intended to be house-caring women has changed.
Women. Women’s involvement in the working world have contributed to many items that would be missing from the world today; if they had not been allowed to work.. Women have struggled with sexism in the workplace since before they were even given the chance to try to work. They were taught from a young age that their job was to provide children, cook, and clean for their husbands, while the husband worked and provided the money. What men did not know however was that women were capable of so much more(Jewell, Hannah).
