The Feminine Mystique

The Feminine Mystique - Betty Friedan

Landmark, groundbreaking, classicthese adjectives barely do justice to the pioneering vision and lasting impact of The Feminine Mystique. Published in 1963, it gave a pitch-perfect description of the problem that has no name: the insidious beliefs and institutions that undermined womens confidence in their intellectual capabilities and kept them in the home. Writing in a time when the average woman first married in her teens and 60 percent of women students dropped out of college to marry, Betty Friedan captured the frustrations and thwarted ambitions of a generation and showed women how they could reclaim their lives. Part social chronicle, part manifesto, The Feminine Mystique is filled with fascinating anecdotes and interviews as well as insights that continue to inspire. This 50thanniversary edition features an afterword by best-selling author Anna Quindlen as well as a new introduction by Gail Collins.

Published: 2013-09-03 (W. W. Norton Company)

ISBN: 9780393346787

Language: English

Format: Paperback, 592 pages

Goodreads' rating: -

Genres

Classics Womens History Nonfiction Feminism

Reviews

José Manuel rated it

The following quote sums up much of what I took away from the book: "Self-esteem in woman, as well as in man, can only be based on real capacity, competence, and achievement; on deserved respect from others rather than unwarranted adulation....if (that) occupation does not demand, or permit, realization of woman's full abilities, it cannot provide self-esteem, much less pave the way to a higher level of self-realization."This is a book that, while dated, should be a must read for all women in patriarchal societies. Women everywhere should understand our past and foresee a future for themselves. Friedan indicates that education for women is the key for continued growth. I would have to agree.

Johna rated it

What struck me the most when I read this as a teenager (and this was the first of its genre I read) was how, in excruciatingly familiar detail, it described my mother. God rest her soul, I didn't appreciate it at the time and it didn't make me any less of a brat. Her life had been a life typical of many women that entered the workforce during WWII. Instead of marrying when the war ended, she stayed on and attained a position of prominence for a woman at that time. She married very late, at age 29, and overnight went from the life of an independent woman with a busy career in a big city, to a full-time small-city housewife. I believed then and I believe now that to succumb willingly to a life of, let's face it, servitude and domesticity, with a sudden, total loss of status can kill you. But now society throws many little bones to housewives, and actually makes them even think they can dictate public policy from the front seat of their minivans. It's a lie, now as then. Just spend a few days home sick on the couch. Watch "the View", "Dr. Phil", and "Oprah". And that's not even the dumb stuff.

Gigi rated it

Have you ever read one of Richard Yates's novels such as Revolutionary Road and said "Gaaaawwwwwd, he's a great writer, but why'd he have to make it so depressing?"? The Feminine Mystique will show you that he was accurately portraying the despair and feeling of entrapment many married women were experiencing in post-WWII America. 4.5 stars Hard to rate because it's often needlessly wordy and overlong in general, but her extensive research and groundbreaking (at the time) information warrant a high rating. A fascinating overview of American women throughout various periods of history.