In this chapter, Betty Friedan introduces the idea of ‘glorified femininity,’ and to further explain this vision, she makes use of several rhetorical devices such as simile when she talks about how, in recent year, it’s been ‘popular [amongst men] to laugh at feminism as history's dirty joke’ but what these self-proclaimed comedians fail to see is that through feminism, women were not only able to gain suffrage but to end child labor and help win the great war, thus they not only made history for themselves, but also for America. Moreover, Friedan also makes use of an epithet when she talks about how most men thought that women were neurotic victims of ‘penis envy’ just because they denied their very nature of being a woman, which fulfills
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
1. The Feminine Mystique In 1963, Betty Friedan, who was a housewife and journalist that graduated from Smith College, spoke and had interviews with other housewives. These housewives revealed that although they seemed to be having a good life (materialistically), they were very unhappy. Each of these women thought that they were dealing with this unhappiness alone.
Since the beginning of time, women have been represented as a sexualised identity. All women were expected to cook, clean and care for their husbands while still having to look pretty. The article written by Vanessa Martins Lamb, “The 1950’s and the 1960’s and the American Woman”, uses language devices to convey the message that women in the 50’s were indeed represented as a sexualised identity and stereotypical gender roles were significant in society. The author described the jobs a married woman had to do in order to be the perfect housewife, “have dinner ready, prepare yourself, prepare the children, minimize all noise, be happy to see him, listen to him, make the evening his”, puts emphasis on the fact that all of the woman’s duties
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 breaks new ground, concocting the idea that women can discover personal fulfillment by straying away from their original roles. Friedan ponders on the idea that The Feminine Mystique is the cause for a vast majority of women during that time period to feel confined by their occupations around the house; therefore, 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.
“In almost every professional field, in business and in the arts and sciences, women are still treated as second-class citizens. It would be a great service to tell girls who plan to work in society to expect this subtle, uncomfortable discrimination-- tell them not to be quiet, and hope it will go away, but fight it. A girl should not expect special privileges because of her gender, but neither should she “adjust” to prejudice and discrimination”. Betty Friedan wrote this quote in her 1950’s book, The Feminine Mystique, a book about the suburban housewife and the discrimination against women and girls. From Betty’s view, despite the changes that have happened due to the 1920’s women's suffrage, women were still being treated less than men.
History, I was introduced to the work of Betty Friedan, a leading figure in the second wave of feminism in the United States. In addition to learning about her accomplishments, I was forced to instill into my mind the title of her most famous work of social commentary, The Feminine Mystique. Every instance in which her name came up I instantly associated it with her book, so much so that I felt the urge to read it. The work was ahead of its time in ideals that portrayed the values of feminism and the societal constraints on women. It showed how, in the 1950s and 1960s, women became increasingly unhappy with their stereotypical roles in American society.
The end of World War II marked the beginning of a new era, not only for the United States but for the world. Here in the United States, the end of WWII was met with celebration as well as hope for the future (Sullivan, 2018). Initially, the postwar era was met with some uncertainty because of the threat of conflict with the Soviet Union. There was always the skirting of another war looming on the side lines with Russia and it was said to be terrifying. Americans were tired, and families were torn apart from the war that was fought so heroically for so many years.
In “The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan, she analyzes through her research that highly educated, intelligent suburban housewives like her, found themselves discontent and dissatisfied with their lives. Throughout the book, she analyzes women’s identities, femininity, the sexualization of women, gender roles, and most importantly- the dehumanization of the female existence in our society. Friedan and many other suburban housewives had everything a woman in the 1950’s was supposed to have—a loving husband, great children, financial security, and a beautiful house in the suburbs—but she and many other women continued to feel like they weren’t completely satisfied. In those times, society had normalized the perfect housewife ideal that a fulfilled
In the 1970’s women were expected to stay at home and take care of the household. They were usually not expected to further their education, but instead take care of the children or tend to their husbands’ needs. In 1972 Judy Brady decided to let the readers of Ms. Magazine know how she felt about her “duties”. In her short essay, “Why I Want a Wife,” Brady uses pathos to connect and appeal to the reader’s emotions while explaining why she wants a wife.
Based on class content such as readings and educational documentaries it is clear that women of all backgrounds share universal struggles, including how to deal with infused social standards. Over the course of the semester, hearing in depth recounts of not only practices forced upon females to make them adhere to certain beauty and purity standards but also witness access being denied to certain female groups (especially those of color) in order to keep women from progressing up the social and economic ladder has put the story, appearance and outlook of every woman in perspective. Each individual has to deal with a unique aspect of being female that has greatly affected her life in a way unfathomable for a male in America. Conducting an interview
She was not satisfied as a housewife and wondered if other women felt the same. So, she surveyed her peers from Smith College What she concluded became the Feminine Mystique. Women’s personal identity as mothers and housewife was not fulfilling enough. Women suffered frustration because their only responsibility was the children and husband without exploring their intelligence and abilities. (History.org) Betty Friedan launches her nonfiction account of the twentieth-century
“They learned that truly feminine women do not want careers, higher education, political rights – the independence and the opportunities” (Friedan, 1963, p.16). This is what people believed to be the truth about women, so this is what women did. Women eventually desired this role and dreamed of being the ‘perfect housewife’; Friedan wrote that things escalated to the point that “Millions of women lived their lives in the image of those pretty pictures of the American suburban housewife” (Friedan, 1963,
It emphasized how women were unhappy, despite living comfortable lives with a family, suggesting that women want more of a place and voice in society during the 1950’s and 1960’s. She criticized how men portrayed women on advertisements as happy housewives and thus creating this idea that women were naturally fulfilled by being housewives and caretakers and how women gave into social ideals to become a wife and mother, because they believed in the philosophy that feminine fulfillment would be achieved through “sexual passivity, male domination, and maternal love.” Friedan criticizes women for not knowing their identity in society, but rather allowing society to decide for them. She criticizes how culture conforms women to it’s social norms. The conformity to social expectations due to the American culture is evident throughout history, for example, during the Vietnam War, men went to war instead of deserting due to the idea between honor and dishonor, this could be a factor as to why women conformed to social ideals, as social pressure for the public around them expected her to follow in other women’s footsteps and become a housewife and they didn’t want others around them to look down upon them and bring shame to their families, so she did as others and copied women of previous
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.
