Trying to live solely through the achievements of their husbands or children did not meet women’s own needs for growth through challenging work and accomplishment. This was “the problem without a name,” as she called it, accompanying America’s affluence and its retreat into suburban consumerism. Women were increasingly tending toward depression, boredom or worse because their capacities for meaningful work and achievement were being underused. Did Betty Friedan get it right? A Critical Analysisīetty Friedan’s fiery manifesto was aimed at what she described as a postwar regression from an earlier, 19th-century feminist struggle for the vote, for legal rights and for equal opportunities to participate in society. A 50th anniversary edition of the book, published this year, provoked more discussion in both secular and religious circles. Millions of copies were sold, and many women since have claimed, “It changed my life.” Opponents were equally aroused, and different interpretations of feminism have remained on the agenda ever since. In 1963, Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique, launched second-wave feminism in an astounding way.
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