Preview

Response To Feminine Mystique

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
190 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Response To Feminine Mystique
After the release of Friedan’s novel, there was an overwhelming response from the readers. Many responded with utter happiness, claiming that Feminine Mystique had changed their lives, while many responded negatively. Friedan’s success led her to co-fund the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966, to work towards increasing women’s rights. By being a part of this organization she influenced the change “outdated laws that were disadvantageous to women, such as sex-segregated help-wanted ads and hiring practices, unequal pay, and firing a woman who was pregnant instead of providing her with maternity leave” (NWHM). However, many African Americans felt that NOW was “too white and middle class” to address the problems poor women and racial

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Thus, in an attempt to further promote equal opportunity between men and women, a second wave of feminism emerged between 1968 and the 1980’s, which can be best characterized by women’s refusal to acclimate to society’s rigid belief of what an ideal woman should be or act like (Mancia, Class, 12/2). This problem is perfectly illustrated in the Feminine Mystique, written by Betty Friedan, in which Friedan discussed the unhappiness of many young women in the 1950’s and early 1960’s despite many of them being married and having children, living the life a woman is “supposed” to have. Furthermore, Friedan complained of young women who were being taught that “truly feminine women do not want careers, higher education, political rights” (Friedan, p. 271). Instead, they were being taught that it was a woman’s “job” to essentially be a housewife (i.e. stay home, clean the house, make food for her family, take care of the kids, etc...) (Friedan, p. 273). However, Friedan largely opposed this view and believed that it embodied the false prototypical stereotype about women. Rather, Friedan believed that a truly feminine woman would do just the exact opposite and does aim for a career, higher education, and political rights in the same way that a man would (Mancia, Class,…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Black Freedom Movement

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Starting as early as World War II, the black freedom movement was founded in the goal of destabilizing the racial system of the United States, and especially in the South. Even though various opinions were held as to how that goal should be achieved by the numerous different protest groups, the end to segregation and beginning of racial justice and true freedom were unifying in the black freedom movement. The women’s movement can be categorized in two ways: feminism and women’s liberation. Overall, the goals of the women’s movement are comparable to those of the black freedom movement. The first wave of feminism had the vote at the top of the priority list, but the second wave and women’s liberation had a broader spectrum of goals most notably personal freedom. The National Organization for Women (NOW) was modeled after the civil rights organization, demanding equality in jobs, education, and political rights. The black freedom movement and particularly the second wave of feminism and women’s liberation are similar in that the right to vote was written into law in earlier years, yet these minorities continued to feel the need to press for equal opportunity as the white male. A major reason for this can be seen in the prominent anti-civil rights and anti-feminism position of the South. These surface level similarities, however,…

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The revolutionary changes that took place in the 1970s lead to many new ways of thinking and new fields of study, one of which was women’s studies. After such a change, the academic world was flooded with new perspectives and studies on the positions of women throughout American history and how that position had changed over time. One such examination was done by Mary Beth Norton in her book Liberty’s Daughters, a detailed examination of the roles of women during colonial times and how their roles were to change due to the American Revolution. To get a full picture of the roles during this period, Norton turns to the women themselves, using their letters, diaries, memoirs, and other such materials in order to get a full grasp as to what their lives were like before and after the war. Norton contends that the lives of women should have been drastically changed after the…

    • 1869 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Betty Friedan’s initial intent of inspiring women to step out of their traditional roles, although effectively bringing forth the women’s movement, unintentionally changed the dynamics of family life in society.…

    • 78 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Niebuhr sees it as an obstacle while Friedan sees it as the only way to truly gain freedom. Friedan says “She [women] must learn to compete then, not as a woman, but as a human being. Not until a great many women move out of the fringes into the mainstream will society itself provide the arrangement for their new life plan.” (297) This rejection of tradition, upholding of individualism, and rejection of an idealistic “mystique” perfectly encapsulates many of the values of the enlightenment and is what Friedan upholds as the only way for women to be free.…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most men didn’t want women to be anything more than housewives, as they had been for years.While most women wanted the freedom to control their careers, bodies, and families.A majority of women felt that the peaceful days of the fifties transferred to the revolutionary days of the sixties the second “The Feminine Mystique” was published.When Friedan published her book, most of her ideas about the capability of a woman being more than a housewife were despised, while now, most people in her home country agree with her views.Friedan’s book had such a hand in changing people’s views on the roles of women, that it is still useful when issues of domestication are called into question. Finally, when a book that is powerful enough, written well enough, and passionate enough calls for social evolution, the public will…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Wasn't that the point of the book? For women to realize, we are just two people. Not that much separates us (p. 530).” Descriptions of historical events of the early activities of the civil rights movement are sprinkled throughout the novel, as are relations between the maids and their white employers. The novel is filled with details from the early-1960s culture in the United States like Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous march on Washington…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    We as Americans reminisce on history to see and understand the advancements we have accomplished and the same can be said of not only the advancement of women but also the image of how women are portrayed. Although in today’s day and age, their figures and beauty are scrutinized but also exploited. For instance in both Tennessee Williams motion picture, “A Street Car Named Desire” and Lorraine Hansberry A Raisin in the Sun you are able to see the evolution of the not only the portal of women but also the advancements they accomplish.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through the whole book, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, gives numerous insights on how women were treated throughout the years and how their role in life, was to be a housewife and only a housewife. Although women enjoyed caring for their husbands and children, they often became sad, empty, and sometimes suicidal. Women wanted to work outside of their homes and pursue the dreams they always wanted, but it was frowned upon. This led to the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, creating the concept called “Penis Envy”. With this concept, it meant, “the literal explanation of all that was wrong with American women” (105). I do not believe women from the past were envious of men because of their penis but rather their freedom. Due…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Betty Friedan Hero

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Imagine a world where women have a very little amount of rights, where women being hired was rare, and where only women cleaned. The only reason our world isn’t like that anymore is because of Betty Friedan, and others like her. Betty Friedan experienced having little rights her whole life, and one day wondered if other women felt the same way she did.…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Although the vast majority of American women were homemakers in 1950s and early 1960s, the rising tempo of activism in the 1960s also stirred new self-awareness and dissatisfaction among educated women. Dismayed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s reluctance to enforce the ban on sex discrimination, these women formed the national Organization for Women (NOW), which is a leading feminist group. NOW’s popularity owed much to the publication by Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, where she wanted women to “establish goals that will permit them to find their own identity” (pg 678). These women activists gained confidence in their own potential and they also became conscious of their second-class status, as they were sexually exploited and relegated to menial jobs by male…

    • 1254 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Black women in the last 100-200 years have been oppressed and mistreated. After going through the Civil War, they were free from their white masters, but not all young girls were free from their parents or husbands that treated them poorly. Alice Walker was a famous African-American woman who wrote the book The Color Purple and the short story “Everyday Use”. She showed examples of oppression of black women in both.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The term feminism can be used to describe a political, cultural or economic movement aimed at establishing equal rights and legal protection for women” (“History and Theory of Feminism, n.d.). “Feminism involves political and sociological theories and philosophies concerned with issues of gender difference, as well as a movement that advocates gender equality for women and campaigns for women's rights and interests” (“History and Theory of Feminism, n.d.). In this essay the 1968 Pittsburgh Women’s Movement is going to be further discussed as well as its impact on Pittsburgh and women in the business world.…

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Feminine Mystique

    • 12188 Words
    • 49 Pages

    2) During the era of “Rosie the Riveter”, what gains did women make in the workforce? How did these women feel about themselves and their contributions? What did society as a whole think?…

    • 12188 Words
    • 49 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Feminine Mystique Betty Friedan (1963). (n.d.). Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved December 11, 2012, from http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/friedan.htm…

    • 1463 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays