Betty Friedan's blockbuster of a book, The Feminine Mystique, hits the nail right on the head for many women across the United States. Published in 1963, it still rings true the gender inequality many young girls and especially middle aged women encounter today. This nonfiction piece grounds itself in one specific notion: there is a looming emotion that many housewives are confessing to finally feeling. There is a sense of longing and unhappiness that surrounds women who have chosen to stay at home with their children rather than continue their college degree or go out on their own into the work force. There is a nameless problem that Friedan has so exquisitely described and researched extensively over. She uniquely calls it "the feminine mystique."
Friedan's detailed research and background knowledge paints the dull picture that is the life of a housewife in the 1960s. The time period after World War II set an astounding and disheartening stage for women in the upcoming years. Women who sought to go to college and gain an education were looked down upon, unless they were attending to find a husband. Friedan recounts intimate stories from women who were getting married in high school and dropping out of college to start a family, only to look back later and desire more for their lives. Their educated minds were soon reduced down to doing the same minuscule and tedious tasks everyday: cooking every meal, doing the laundry, and driving the kids to and from school only to do it all over again the next day. Friedan explains in detail how women were placed into this compromising position. Not only does she perfectly illustrate the cause and effect of this housewife syndrome, but she shares anecdotes from women of all ages that magnificently pulls at the heartstrings of readers. This emotion that she is able to draw from her audience creates a prominent realization that women were meant for more.
Empowering and inspiring are just a few adjectives to depict Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. Although solemn at times, she presents powerful statistics that are meant to strike her audience. Her chapters are repetitive, but outstandingly drive home her message of feminism. I immensely enjoyed her book and would recommend it to every woman, especially girls preparing for college!
Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: W.W. Norton, 1963. Print.
Friedan's detailed research and background knowledge paints the dull picture that is the life of a housewife in the 1960s. The time period after World War II set an astounding and disheartening stage for women in the upcoming years. Women who sought to go to college and gain an education were looked down upon, unless they were attending to find a husband. Friedan recounts intimate stories from women who were getting married in high school and dropping out of college to start a family, only to look back later and desire more for their lives. Their educated minds were soon reduced down to doing the same minuscule and tedious tasks everyday: cooking every meal, doing the laundry, and driving the kids to and from school only to do it all over again the next day. Friedan explains in detail how women were placed into this compromising position. Not only does she perfectly illustrate the cause and effect of this housewife syndrome, but she shares anecdotes from women of all ages that magnificently pulls at the heartstrings of readers. This emotion that she is able to draw from her audience creates a prominent realization that women were meant for more.
Empowering and inspiring are just a few adjectives to depict Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. Although solemn at times, she presents powerful statistics that are meant to strike her audience. Her chapters are repetitive, but outstandingly drive home her message of feminism. I immensely enjoyed her book and would recommend it to every woman, especially girls preparing for college!
Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: W.W. Norton, 1963. Print.