The Feminine Mystique

From ArticleWorld

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan was a highly influential book published in 1963 that helped start a nationwide debate in the United States. The book remains a key text of feminism, and an icon of the First Wave.

Friedan describes the 'mystification' of women as a process that began in the 1940s after World War II ended, with returning American soldiers longing for mother figures and perfect homes At the 15th reunion of the her class of 1942 at Smith College, Friedan gave out a questionnaire to 200 fellow graduates to determine if her sense was true that American women were, quite simply, unhappy. Friedan argued that this unhappiness stemmed from women having nothing of their own, and being financially, intellectually, and emotionally reliant on their husbands. Women were nowhere near fulfilling their potential.

Friedan wrote about 'the problem that had (has) no name', positing that this mystification affected every aspect of women's life. A 'woman's place' had subtly been determined to be in a supporting role to men. The drive to wear makeup, keep a perfect home, give up work were all the result of this mystification of what it meant to be a woman. Fulfilment for women, and women's identities, had been determined to lie in their men and children. And meanwhile, even as women were being kept in the house, technological innovations were leaching value from traditional women's work. Clearly, Friedan wrote, none of this was working, because women were unhappy.

Friedan presented statistics and refuted and used theories ranging from those of Sigmund Freud (penis envy) to Margaret Mead. Her phrases such as the 'Housewife trap', and 'Housewifery expands to fill the time available' became the slogans of a generation.