The National Organization For Women's 1966 Statement Of Purpose By Betty Friedman

In 1966, Betty Friedman wrote “The National Organization for Women’s 1966 Statement of Purpose”, a statement calling for “A more equitable division of labor within the family” (Foner 296-297) and arguing that despite the number of college educated women increasing, women were still relegated to the role of housewife and mother. In Betty Friedman’s statement, Friedman says that “true freedom” means having equal opportunity and freedom to choose between being a homemaker and holding a position in social, political, and/or economic life. Friedman’s idea of freedom is different from Ronald Reagan’s who, in his Inaugural Address, claims that freedom in the United States means choosing to limiting the power of the government and focusing on self-rule instead. While Friedman and President Reagan both argue that having freedom in the United States means having the freedom to choose, Friedman and Reagan have different views on the idea of freedom. Betty Friedman wrote

Friedman argued that there can only be true equality if women are considered equal to men and are given the opportunity to “equal professional and economic participation” (Forner 297), and when Friedman published her statement women were doing the same work as the men but receiving 41% less than the men in their salary and were twice as likely to be unemployed compared to the men (Forner 308). This contradicts Ronald Reagan’s Inaugural address, where he states that the Unites States are “a united people pledged to maintaining a political system which guarantees individual liberty to a greater degree than any other” (Forner 329). When Reagan gave his speech in 1981, the Equal Rights