Betty Friedan uses The Feminine Mystique to remind women that, for decades, the only way for a woman to be feminine was to get married, have kids and keep a house. Having multiple children was the norm, and running a household was considered a career. There is room for little else. Friedan analyzes why women, brought up with these socially accepted views, are suddenly finding themselves wanting more. In the early 1960s, (when The Feminine Mystique was written) therapy was becoming the rage. It was common for women to crowd clinics crying out for something better...although they didn't understand why. If they had a husband, a house and at least two children, society was telling them they had it all. Using the influences of the past like Freud and Margaret Mead, Friedan is able to paint a cultural picture of how the ideals and goals of women have been shaped over time. Friedan cites a multitude of magazines that have practically brainwashed women into believing a husband, house and kids were the best of all worlds combined. A great deal of the Feminine Mystique is quotations from other people. Interviews, magazines, lectures, books, and even a commencement address are used to support her commentary on a woman's position throughout history. Yet, her writing is angry and sharp. She is judge and jury for the problems women face, specifically in an American culture, especially if things do not change. ( )

i want to read this book... pls email me... gchen_26@yahoo.com

These book has launsched a major social movement, the second wave of the feminist movement, that has been awakening women and men.

This book changed my life when I was 18 and entering college in 1967. I found out I did not have to spend the rest of my life being married to a man and a house. A landmark book that changed the world as well! ( )

While I'm all about women's rights, this book just makes the same point over and over and over again. It is the definition of beating a dead horse. Additionally, while I'm sure it was relevant at its time, reading a bunch of statistics that simply aren't true anymore makes for a boring read. I love history, but really, Betty, just make your point and move on. ( )

Friedan’s main thesis of the book is that the life of a housewife does not entail the kind of sense of purpose and intellectual fulfillment that most women require in order to be happy. After the pioneering strides of the women’s movement in the 1920s, she saw a retreat of women back to the home and role of housewife after World War II. Many felt this was the natural place for a woman.

(Full review at my blog) ( )

Sometimes you have to read a classic to fully understand why it had such an impact. This is one fantastic book, and I can appreciate why it moved millions to look at the relationship between the sexes more closely.

It is a testament to its many 'truths' that it still commands respect 40 years on. The many descriptions of how the 1950s/1960s left women feeling isolated and powerless, plus the many changes that provided a path out of domesticity, are the things that I still value most about this text.

However, time has shown up some of the books faults. For me, the most glaring is the poor discussion of spending power and adverstising. Friedan reports that 75% of money earned is spent by women, and tries to turn this on its head to claim that they are still 'victims' because advertisers pay so much attention to manipulating them. This is a bit like saying that if men had 3 votes to women's 1, that men would be 'victims' because politicians were more interested in winning their votes. Women have spending power in our society and this gives them not only a lot of economic power but collective control over much of the media (who must not offend women if they wish to retain adverstising revenues).

A brilliant book, but not faultless. For a similarly sympathetic book from a man's perspective try to get your hands on a copy of "Why Men Are The Way They Are" by Warren Farrell. ( )

Although the book was written 35 years ago about women and the problems they struggled with regarding fulfillment and identity, the book still has value today as a reflection of what is truly wrong with American society as a whole and why our youth are continuing to grow up aimless and selfish. Work was fulfilling until the glorious 50's. People worked hard in the lower and middle classes, especially women. The housework required more labor intensive focus and the poorer the family, the more often the woman worked outside the home as well. Many of the same problems that women suffered in the 50's was also reflected in the neuroses of upper class Victorian women. The bottom line is that we do ourselves, men and women both, a disservice by not having fulfilling work that stretches our intellect and makes use of the limits of our abilities. Identity issues are not solely a male or female issue. Many are floundering in this country and we've lost our original American go-to spirit. Too bad Friedan isn't read more widely outside of Gender Studies courses. She's got a lot to say that's just as if not more relevant now than ever before. ( )

Incredibly this book has not aged at all; a must read for every women who has trouble achieving work-life balance ( )

Book Description
The book that changed the consciousness of a country—and the world. Landmark, groundbreaking, classic—these adjectives barely describe the earthshaking and long-lasting effects of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. This is the book that defined "the problem that has no name," that launched the Second Wave of the feminist movement, and has been awakening women and men with its insights into social relations, which still remain fresh, ever since. A national bestseller, with over 1 million copies sold.

Inside Flap Copy
First published in 1963, The Feminine Mystique ignited a revolution that profoundly changed our culture, our conciousness, and our lives. Today it newly penetrates to the heart of isuues determining our lives -- and sounds a call to arms against the very real dangers of a newe feminine mystique in the economic and political turbulence of the 1990s.

Three decades later, the underlying issues raised by Betty Friedan strike at the core of the problems women still face at home and in the marketplace. As women continue to struggle for equality, to keep their hard-won gains, to find fulfillment in their careers, marriage and family, The Feminine Mystique remains the seminal conciousness-raising work of our times.