Betty Friedan was an American writer, feminist, and women’s activist. She was most known for having written The Feminine Mystique in 1963, co-founding and becoming the first president of the National Organization for Women.
Betty was born Bettye Naomi Goldstein on February 4, 1921, in Peoria, Illinois. In college, Friedan excelled, earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1942. After earning her bachelor’s degree, Friedan moved to New York to pursue her career. In New York, she worked as a reporter for a short time and then married Carl Friedan, her husband, in 1947. The couple went on to have three children.
After several difficulties finding a job because of her pregnancies, in 1956, the couple moved from New York to suburban Rockland county. Friedan decided to stay home and take care of her family, but quickly became restless as a homemaker and wondered if other women felt the same way. In order to answer that question, Friedan surveyed her fellow graduates at Smith College, and the results of her research became the basis for her book, The Feminine Mystique. The book quickly garnered attention, as it created a social revolution, dispelling the myth that not all housewives were happy to be housewives. Some still consider this book to be one of the most influential books of the 20th century. Friedan also published two more books, one in 1982, called The Second Stage, and one in 1993, called The Fountain of Age. However, not only did Friedan write books, but she also co-founded and became the president of the National Organization for Women in 1966. She also fought for abortion rights by establishing the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws in 1969 and helped create the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971.
On February 4, 2006, Friedan passed away due to heart failure. Today, she is remembered as one of the leading voices of the Women’s Rights Movement in the 20th century and her legacy is carried on by the three organizations she created that still exist today.
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Indeed, Betty Friedan had a monumental impact on the women's rights movement. Her impact, and that of other activists, has been so powerful and remembered that there is a miniseries called "Mrs. America" commemorating their efforts in the women's rights movement. However, with every movement is a counterculture. One notable opponent of the women's rights movement was Phyllis Schlafly, also featured in the miniseries. Schlafly was very politically active prior to the ERA; she even ran for the United States House of Representatives, twice. In fact, according to most accounts, Schlafly wasn't particularly interested in women's rights legislation until the 70s. Once she became involved, however, she became one of the faces of the Moral Majority as well as the face of conservative American women who opposed the ERA. She additionally went into anti-gay activisism and openly opposed racial integration. Even though many of the things Schlafly rallied against have come to pass, the ERA has yet to be ratified. I think that speaks to the state of American society today.
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https://www.britannica.com/biography/Phyllis-Schlafly
https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/09/phyllis-schlaflys-legacy-of-anti-gay-activism.html
https://slate.com/culture/2020/04/mrs-america-accuracy-fact-fiction-fx-hulu-miniseries.html
As you mentioned, one of the organizations that Betty Friedan helped create was the National Women's Political Caucus. This organization dedicates itself to recruiting, training, and supporting women who seek elected or appointed offices at all forms of government. Some of the other founders in 1971 included Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, Fannie Lou Hamer, Bella Abzug, and Mildred Jeffrey.
ReplyDeleteSomething interesting about Betty Friedan is that despite essentially being the face of feminism, she was very intolerant of lesbian women. She went as far to declare them the "Lavender Menace". This intolerance resulted in radical feminism as seen through groups such as WITCH and the New York Radical Women with their Miss America protest. Additionally, her Feminine Mystique was racist and classicist, by focusing on "a problem" endured only by white, upper- and middle-class women, and was ignorant of the fact that more than one-third of all women were in the work force and although many women longed to be housewives, only women with leisure time and money could actually shape their identities on the model of the feminine mystique.
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