Book Analysis: The Feminine Mystique
English 106
March 21, 2013
The Changing Face of Feminism
“Each suburban wife struggles with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night- she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question- 'Is this all?”
― Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Betty Friedan’s book, “The Feminine Mystique.” The passage of time has not diminished the significance of the book in terms of its influence on people’s concept of woman and her role in society. Through this book’s insightful views on the realities faced by American women, …show more content…
Some women react negatively upon reading excerpts of the author’s views printed on magazines. Others identify easily with the many situations described by Friedan in the book. Some men write to say they have bought a copy of the book for their wives (Woloch 500-501). Thinking back on being a single college student in the 1960s, Stephanie Coontz shares how little value women have had then. A housewife has no legal right to the earnings of her husband, except in only eight states. The husband has the right to choose the family’s legal residence, except in four states. The law against marital rape does not exist then and domestic violence is taken …show more content…
Collins and Coontz both note that Friedan is far from the ordinary suburban housewife she portrays to be in the book. Collins reiterates that Friedan is a college graduate “who worked for many left-wing and union newspapers in Manhattan before matrimony and motherhood” (2013). Coontz holds a similar view in how Friedan tends to rewrite her own history that downplays her debts to people, like other feminist thinkers and scholars, and the other women who organized the National Organization for Women (2011). In college, Friedan has dabbled into political activism that has later led to active participation in labor rights and left-wing causes. She has written stories about women workers in a news service for union publications. “Extensive experience with labor activism and a decade of immersion in progressive causes, in short, gave Betty Friedan far more political savvy and critical zeal than the postwar housewives she later claimed to represent” (Woloch 498). These critical observations about Friedan’s character certainly raise the truthfulness of her claim in the book as a suburban housewife. However, it must be remembered by any reader, especially a female reader, that Friedan is indeed a suburban housewife. She may not have written in detail about her work experience but this does not lessen the impact of her book.
March 21, 2013
The Changing Face of Feminism
“Each suburban wife struggles with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night- she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question- 'Is this all?”
― Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Betty Friedan’s book, “The Feminine Mystique.” The passage of time has not diminished the significance of the book in terms of its influence on people’s concept of woman and her role in society. Through this book’s insightful views on the realities faced by American women, …show more content…
Some women react negatively upon reading excerpts of the author’s views printed on magazines. Others identify easily with the many situations described by Friedan in the book. Some men write to say they have bought a copy of the book for their wives (Woloch 500-501). Thinking back on being a single college student in the 1960s, Stephanie Coontz shares how little value women have had then. A housewife has no legal right to the earnings of her husband, except in only eight states. The husband has the right to choose the family’s legal residence, except in four states. The law against marital rape does not exist then and domestic violence is taken …show more content…
Collins and Coontz both note that Friedan is far from the ordinary suburban housewife she portrays to be in the book. Collins reiterates that Friedan is a college graduate “who worked for many left-wing and union newspapers in Manhattan before matrimony and motherhood” (2013). Coontz holds a similar view in how Friedan tends to rewrite her own history that downplays her debts to people, like other feminist thinkers and scholars, and the other women who organized the National Organization for Women (2011). In college, Friedan has dabbled into political activism that has later led to active participation in labor rights and left-wing causes. She has written stories about women workers in a news service for union publications. “Extensive experience with labor activism and a decade of immersion in progressive causes, in short, gave Betty Friedan far more political savvy and critical zeal than the postwar housewives she later claimed to represent” (Woloch 498). These critical observations about Friedan’s character certainly raise the truthfulness of her claim in the book as a suburban housewife. However, it must be remembered by any reader, especially a female reader, that Friedan is indeed a suburban housewife. She may not have written in detail about her work experience but this does not lessen the impact of her book.