Preview

The Feminine Mystique Summary

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
160 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Feminine Mystique Summary
The sources answer the question of how has the view of women, and what’s expected of women changed, in the past 100 years? The source “The Feminine Mystique” tells of how in the 1950’s there was a strong wave of young women that returned to the traditional gender roles of women, who left behind the ideas that the suffragettes before them had fought so hard for in the early 1900’s. The women again were told that their place was in the home, and that they should not work. Society’s view of women had shifted from women being able to work hard, as they did in World War II, to the women being viewed as delicate creatures, that needed to be taken care of, and kept out of the public work place. The women of the 1950’s were told that their main goal
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Post Modern American Women
    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Post Modern American Women

    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
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    From Rosie To Lucy
    • 641 Words
    • 2 Pages

    From Rosie To Lucy

    In the first section of the chapter the authors talk about how during World War II women made great strides toward becoming equals with men. They did this by going to work in factories. Women in the work place were not uncommon before the WWII era, but the actual women working in the factories changed. Before the WWII era majority of the women working in the factories were young, single women, but then that shifted to older, married women. Of the 6.5 million women in the work force more than half of them were the older, married women during this time period. And they were influenced to work in the factories not only because of society pressures, but because of the propaganda posters and ads about “Rosie the Riveter” who was a strong woman who worked in the factories and other jobs. This gave women more civil rights than before. However, when the war ended and all the fighting males came back many of the women were pushed out of the factories and back to their home lives. This also meant that many of the rights and authorities that they had gained were expunged. The female mystique changed from working hard in the factory to support the men overseas to working hard in the home to support the men at work.…

    • 641 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analyzing Betty Friedan's 'The Feminine Mystique'
    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Analyzing Betty Friedan's 'The Feminine Mystique'

    For years the philosophical debate has raged on. Emotions or intellect? Romanticism, a philosophy with an emphasis on emotion, instinct, and idealism, holds the idea that the world and everything in it is more than the sum of its parts, and holds that there are some things that are not fully discoverable or observable. On the other side we are faced with the philosophy of the enlightenment. Enlightened thinking holds that anything that exist can be discovered through logic, reason, and observable evidence.…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Analyze the changes that occurred during the 1960's in the goals, strategies and support of the movement for African American civil rights
    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Analyze the changes that occurred during the 1960's in the goals, strategies and support of the movement for African American civil rights

    In the years 1890-1925, the role of women in American society had changed politically, economically, and socially. Women were no longer considered the servant of men. She was considered an important part of society, but wasn’t able to lead in areas dominated by men. In this time period this is when things started to change for the women.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cracks in the Mold
    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Cracks in the Mold

    The mid twentieth century proved to be a compelling, interesting time for the United States and an era that changed the World. The Civil Rights movement brought the end to de jure segregation and racism and this incredible grassroots movement served as a foundational model for other groups to mock and seek their own liberation. The 1960s spurned movements not only for African Americans, but also for the LGBT community and women. With the emergence of America as a media savvy economic powerhouse post the World Wars, a tide sort of changed within the community of women. According to Sara Evans in the selection “Cracks in the Mold,” women in the 1950s recognized they were somewhat limited to performing the dutiful tasks of motherhood, but many were outright no longer finding fulfillment in such rolls (176). Evans describes the complexities of sexism in the United States’ culture while also she explains that both a conservative female push and a more radical feminist movement helped shape the legislation and attitude changes permeating through twentieth century America.…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of The Feminine Mystique
    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Summary Of The Feminine Mystique

    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
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    How much impact did war have on social attitudes, 1939-c1950 in Britain? Essay Example
    • 1755 Words
    • 7 Pages

    How much impact did war have on social attitudes, 1939-c1950 in Britain? Essay Example

    One major change in social attitudes, was that of the attitudes towards women. During World War II many women took up jobs that had previously been considered only for men. Women worked in heavy industry and on the land, among other things. In the years from the outbreak of World War II until the early 1950s, many social changes took place that contributed towards the birth of the women's liberation movement. These social changes can be seen extremely clearly as data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau show that from 1940 to its peak in 1950, the labor force participation (LFP) rate for all women increased by 24.3 percent [2]. It is an interesting statement on the social attitudes toward female labor that ‘the war did not inflate women’s wages. Employers would hire several women to replace one man. By 1939, a working woman’s weekly wage had returned to being half the male rate.’[3].Clearly social prejudices and the needs of employers were not so much against women working as against their entering new fields of employment and receiving higher wages. These pieces of evidence show how World War 2 only had a minor impact on social attitudes towards women. Whilst on paper all women seemed free, there were still issues which made the major social attitude changes appear illusory. For instance, stereotypes of women had not completely changed, with ‘the home and childcare still seen as primarily women’s responsibility, however with the added…

    • 1755 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Response To Feminine Mystique
    • 190 Words
    • 1 Page

    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…

    • 190 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Apush Dbq
    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Apush Dbq

    1840-1890’s women’s activists in the intellectual, social, economic, and political spheres effectively challenged traditional attitudes about women’s place in society” Asses the validity of this statement.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Feminine Mystique
    • 255 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Feminine Mystique

    Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique was first published in the United States in 1963 by W. W. Norton & Company. Friedan began writing this piece after she attended her fifteen-year college reunion at Smith, a woman's college. She prepared a questionaire for 200 of her classmates at this reunion. The results were as she expected; many American women were unhappy and did not know why. Many magazines did not want to post Friedan's results because it contradicted the original role of women and conventional assumptions about femininity. After this, Friedan spent five years researching and writing The Feminine Mystique. In this book, Friedan defines women's unhappiness as "The problem that has no name". She goes into detailed exploration of what she believes is the problem for these women. Friedan uses statistics, theories, and first-person accounts to show that the problem is the idealized image of women society has created, which she calls The Feminine Mystique. Women have been confined to the roles of a housewife and a mother, denying them education and career opportunitites. Friedan successfully proves that the feminine mystique denies women the opportunity to develop their own ideas by discussing women's educational process, effective look at media, and first-hand accounts with other women.…

    • 255 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Male Gaze Theory Depicted in American Pie
    • 1942 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Male Gaze Theory Depicted in American Pie

    The position of women in the society at present has changed gradually in the last few centuries. The role of women, as dictated by the society, is perceived by how they’re presented. Since the last three centuries, women have always been viewed as just housewives and objects of perversion.…

    • 1942 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Feminine Mystique
    • 12188 Words
    • 49 Pages

    Feminine Mystique

    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
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Feminine Mystique Analysis
    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Feminine Mystique Analysis

    Immediately following the conclusion of World War II, the average age of women getting married significantly dropped and the number of births skyrocketed. Young men and women yearned to settle down in the suburbs with white picket fences in order to have the perfect family. While on the outside, the suburbs epitomized the perfect family, on the inside tension and discontent quietly loomed in many households. “The postwar suburbs were either heaven or hell for their inhabitants—endless stretches of brand-new houses on quarter-acre lots occupied, during weekday hours, entirely by women and children” (Collins 1).…

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Ideal Woman In The 1950's
    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Ideal Woman In The 1950's

    In the 1890s, women were put to work in the work force like men. They were put in factories and were used for cheap labor. This means that these women would work hard labor jobs for cheap pay, wages well under what the normal paying hard labor job should be paying. If this was a man that was doing this hard manual labor job, they would probably be getting paid a lot more than what these women were being paid. This was disrespectful to these women, and the level of disrespect that these women received and be of great comparison to the women of the 1950s. The women of the 1950s were expected to cook, clean, and take care of the house while their husbands were at work. Their husbands…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Gender Inequality In The Workplace
    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Gender Inequality In The Workplace

    It is no secret that for centuries, women have faced years and years of discrimination, inferiority to men, and being viewed as less than human by society. Women have had to fight for their right to vote amongst other legal rights, and for their independence from their husbands. “When American women began to enter the labor force in the nineteenth century, the relatively few jobs open to them were highly segregated by gender” (Spain 1992: 14). The first women’s labor union began to form by the end of the 1930’s. Women’s activism began to increase, leading to a new reform in paid work and the rise in feminism in the midst of a new labor movement (Gregory 2003: 25). By the 1940’s, the transition of the housewife to that of a working woman began to trend. Women began to venture out of the home in search of employment and educational opportunities to help provide for their families, since their…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics