Betty Friedan, after experiencing feelings of depression, self-loathing, and dissatisfaction as a mother and housewife, published The Feminine Mystique in 1963. The book, which focused on the “problem that has no name,” promoted awareness of society’s pressure on women to be seen in a certain way, especially in advertising. As Joyce Hart points out in her essay, this propaganda told women that being a wife and mother was all there was to their lives, and that they had to find meaning by standing in their family’s shadow. Hart states, “As young wives, women sought recognition through their husbands. As mothers, women promoted themselves through their children. Their offspring’s accomplishments were their own. It was one more excuse, Freidan states, for women to forego defining themselves” (Hart 2). Unfortunately, many women thought that there was something wrong with them for not finding complete satisfaction in motherhood and life in suburbia, and they wanted something else to give their life some greater meaning. Baffled by sexism in the workforce, Friedan also remarks on the inconsistency of the changing expectations and the treatment of women in America throughout the twentieth century. In the 1920s, for example, the ideal young woman was educated, independent, had a career, and even put off marriage and having children. After women were told to give up their jobs during the depression to give to a man to support his family, women in the 1940s had to participate in traditional “male” jobs to help support World War II efforts. After the war, the women who found meaning in the jobs that they took over for men were told to leave under the pressure of propaganda saying that they men somehow needed it more than the women, and tha...
... middle of paper ...
...w 27.27 (1987): 61-75. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Coontz, Stephanie. A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s. New York: Basic, 2011. Print.
Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2013. Print.
Friedan, Betty. "The National Organization for Women's 1966 Statement of Purpose."
National Organization for Women (NOW). National Organization for Women,
n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
Hart, Joyce. “Critical Essay on ‘The Feminine Mystique’.” Nonfiction Classics for
Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Nonfiction Works. Ed.
David M. Galens, Jennifer Smith, and Elizabeth Thomason. Vol 5. Detroit: Gale,
2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Seaman, Donna. Another Look at: Betty Friedan's the Feminine Mystique. 109 Vol.
Booklist Publications, 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
The “Feminine Mystique” is a highly influential book in the early second wave feminism movement. It is said that it helped shaped the demands of the second wave by insisting for the right to work outside the home, and to be paid equally; the right for reproductive freedom; the demand that women should not be expected to have children and be mothers if they do not want to. Betty Friedan addresses “the problem that has no name” which is the women who are highly educated, suburban housewives that are bored and want something “more” in their life. This is the point where women knew we needed a second wave. Women’s role had gone backwards and they were beginning to realize that they were all experiencing the same “problem that has no name”. “The
Throughout the early history of our nation, it was apparent that females were expected to abide by certain cultural and societal norms. Females were often tied to a male member, whether it was their father, husband, or male relative, the mere identity of a female has always been attached to a male figure (Connell, 2003). Due to these gender roles, women have consistently battled with gender inequality. Often times, women were subjected to stay at home, bear children, raise them, and take care of their husband. Assumed gender roles have led society to assume and expect that women were not allowed to do the same things as men. These patriarchal ideas have constrained and restricted women heavily in society (Glick, 2001). Mass media, television, and many other aspects of society have consistently reinforced patriarchal notions and the idea of different roles for men and women (McCarthy,
Frederick Lewis Allen, in his famous chronicle of the 1920s Only Yesterday, contended that women’s “growing independence” had accelerated a “revolution in manners and morals” in American society (95). The 1920s did bring significant changes to the lives of American women. World War I, industrialization, suffrage, urbanization, and birth control increased women’s economic, political, and sexual freedom. However, with these advances came pressure to conform to powerful but contradictory archetypes. Women were expected to be both flapper and wife, sex object and mother. Furthermore, Hollywood and the emerging “science” of advertising increasingly tied conceptions of femininity to a specific standard of physical beauty attainable by few. By 1930, American women (especially affluent whites) had won newfound power and independence, but still lived in a sexist culture where their gender limited their opportunities and defined their place in society.
“A woman has got to be able to say, and not feel guilty, ‘Who am I, and what do I want our of life?’ She must not feel selfish and neurotic if she wants goals of her own, outside of her husband and children.”(The Associated Press 1) When Betty Friedan proposed this idea in her book, The Feminine Mystique, she sparked the controversy surrounding one of the most significant but inconspicuous issues in post World War II American society. Americans sought to alleviate the trauma from the war by devoting their time to raising a family, which led to a major increase in birth rate between the years of 1946 and 1964, confining women to raising their many children. Any woman who pursued a career was referred to as unattractive and envious of men (“Women at Work After World War II” 1). Increasingly, women felt jaded and
The era of I love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver and Father knows Best, brought about a time where family values were necessary, family life was wonderful and no one was worrying about politics and the Cold War. These families had the molds of women constrained in the home, men bringing home the bacon and all in the homes of white middle class families. Women in the 1950s were often depicted as dependent on men and were encouraged to get married young. (Bloom and Breines, 6) It took large media input from movie stars like Marilyn Monroe, to influence many women to join the workforce and reject the “traditional feminine roles”. (Bloom and Breines 6) This mold would be challenged by the introduction of the Birth Control pill in 1954 and the growing unhappiness of women who would seek to break the walls that trapped their mothers. (Bloom and Breines, 5) More women would venture out of the homes and into the workplace between the two decades, “from 25 percent in 1950to 32 percent in 1960”. (Bloom and Breines, 5) The introduction of the Birth Control pill allowed for women to avoid unwanted pregnancies or even marriages and encouraged the sexual liberation that would be seen in the sixties.
Women were expected to be nurturing, proper, and obedient. When men wanted their wives and daughters to stay home, the women had no choice but to cooperate, “The growing separation between the workplace and the home sharpened distinctions between the social roles of men and women” (Brinkley 240). As the separation between the home and the workplace began to grow, the shift in gender roles became more evident in society. Additionally, a new culture for women emerged from this shift in society, “Within their own separate sphere, middle-class women began to develop a distinctive female culture. A ‘lady’s’ literature began to emerge” (Brinkley 240). This newfound female culture gave women a sense of connection to other women with lifestyles. In some ways, this shift in gender roles was not completely harmful to women. However, women were still considered to be inferior to
Women were supposed to be housewives who were to stay home and take care of the children and home. Over the years, this idea did not settle well with women and caused them to revolt and become liberated. The ideological and institutional constraints of 1950s American society left a significant impact on the construction of women and their identifies during this time period (Holt). During these years, the idea of Rosie the Riveter arose, which caused women to become more liberated. Women during this time period achieved independence, which caused the ideas of the 1950s woman to become even more harmful to the construction of women and their identity within society. The 1960s was a time of growth for women. It was a period of liberating experiences. For a part of this decade, women were in the work force, doing things that they felt were beneficial to themselves and society. “In an era marked by quiescence of organized feminism and the celebration of domesticity by public figures and popular culture, increasing numbers of women are seeking employment outside the home” (Meyerlwitz,1994). Women were able to make a lasting contribution to society and their homes, which helped to diminish some of the stereotypes that existed. Women during this time were educated at a high rate than years past, many of them were in fields that they had never imagined working in before or classified as
While historians and scholars use a variety of lenses to analyze American history, the examination of the role that gender has played in society provides a view of history broader than the typical patriarchal tunnel vision taught in most history classes today. Men’s roles in society have been molded and crafted by the changes occurring throughout these societies, but women’s roles both in the home and in the workforce have arguably undergone many more radical transformations since the inception of the United States. Specifically, the transformation of womanhood in the first half of the nineteenth century, beginning with the market revolution, permanently changed how women are viewed in society, by both men and other women, and how women relate
It talks about the lives of a few housewives from around the United States who were troubled in spite of living in material solace and being hitched with children. Furthermore, Friedan scrutinized the ladies' magazine, ladies' training framework and sponsors for making this across-the-board picture of “idealistic” ladies. The deleterious impacts incited by this picture were that it limited ladies to strictly the local circle and drove numerous women to lose their own identities. Betty Friedan initially talks about the feeling of control relating particularly to ladies of this period. "The issue that has no name," as Friedan puts it, is the "sense of dissatisfaction" ladies found with their unfulfilling lives (15). Specifically, she tends to the predicament of the rural housewife choked by social desires and caught by her white picket fence. In spite of the fact that the issue was, to a great extent, overlooked or slighted for quite a while, "it is no longer possible to ignore that voice, to dismiss the desperation of so many American women" (26). The double tightening influences of social and sexual control squeezed upon after war American ladies and introduced themselves as a rival to the opportunity of these ladies in the public arena. This regulation must be evaded by embraced assorted parts with expectations of discovering one that the two
The 1950s were filled with strict traditional gender roles for men and women. During World War II many money entered the work force, but after the War, propaganda campaigns were used to get women to go back to their house duty. Popular culture during this time glamorized the life of a housewife. This resulted in women marry at a younger age and fewer women going to college. An existentialist, Simone de Beauvior, introduced the concept that “sex” and “gender” are not equivalent. She described this difference in her book, The Second Sex, when she said, “One is not born, but rather becomes a women.” This coincides with the modern definition, that gender characteristics are not innate, but learned. Beauvior felt as though in society, man is the
It was expected of women to get married, have children, buy a suburban home and do housework. The video, “A Word to the Wives” displays what Betty Friedan calls, “the feminine mystique”. The video presents the dilemma of a woman who is not happy because she does not have the newest house. Her friend has all the new “necessities” in order to successfully complete housework. Women were defined by what they had, not by who they were. Friedan’s research found that despite fulfilling the “feminine mystique”, when women were questioned they realized they were not truly satisfied with their life. The woman in the video would not of been fulfilled by buying a new house, or object. Women were deprived of the need to put their skills and talents to a purpose. The video, “Are You Popular” also shows the expectations of women.. It promotes that appearance, serving others, and rewarding men with “women” gifts such as baking is how to be popular. It condones girls for “parking in cars” but accepts men who do the same thing. Women must earn the approval of men, and men must earn women by doing thing women are “incapable” of. The repression of women in the 50’s is what eventually causes the “outbreak” of feminism in the 60’s. The idolism of the “female mystique” covered the sexism against women in the
Betty Friedan wrote many books, however, “It Changed My Life”, “The Second Stage”, and “Beyond Gender” will be mentioned in my paper. Friedan fought for many things such as the perspective of the change in school, home, and workplace, women’s rights, and women’s right to choose whether it is how they want to live their life or how they take care of their bodies such as abortion. The mindsets of women from her novels between the1960s to the 1980s changed drastically, from the time of women having plenty of free time, to women not having enough free time. Many women during this era, did not want to be like their mothers, and Betty Friedan was one of them. Women play such an important role in our society that they should be given everything a
Following the Cold War, women began to fight for their own equality, however, by doing so they retained the inequalities of others. The Feminine Mystique was released in 1963. The Author, Betty Friedan, lays out for her readers this problem that has no name. The problem is described as, “a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century in the United States. 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?”.” Before
During World War II, a lot of America women became Rosy the Riveter. When the war ended and the men returned home, they wanted to return to the traditional ways but many women did not want to give up their jobs and the supply of money they were making. This created a huge shift in the role of women in society that is still taking effect today (Griffiths et al., 2015). The traditional gender roles are still believed to work by some functionalists (Shepard, 1993). Famed sociologists Talcott Parsons and Robert Bales believed that “Families… require one adult in an ‘instrumental’ role and another adult in an ‘expressive’ role. The husband-father, who usually assumes the instrumental role, is responsible for family in the occupational, political, and economic situations. In preforming the expressive role, the wife-mother is concerned with maintaining relationships within the family, taking care of children, and providing emotional security for all family members”(pg. 300). Even though this may have worked at one time, many sociologists do not believe with Parsons and Bales; they think that modern society treats people not based on their role, but their abilities. Many sociologists believe that the functionalist perspective is outdated and only explains how gender roles came to be, not what they
Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique, explains the mind set of society in the 1960s. She writes that the women of the ‘60s were identified only as creatures looking for “sex, babies, and home” (Friedan 36). She goes on to say “The only passion, the only pursuit, the only goal a woman [was] permitted [was] the pursuit of a man” (Friedan 36). This mind set, this “feminine mystique,” is clearly shown throughout the show Mad Men. The side effect of the feminine mystique hurt all the women of this time. Matthew Weiner shows how this conception of the “ideal woman” hurt all of his lead women. The consequences are shown in the two women who bought into the idea, Betty and Joan, and the one who re...