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BETTY FRIEDAN ASKS: “IS THAT ALL?”
The core of the problem today is not sexual but a problem of identity —
a stunting of growth that is perpetuated by the feminine mystique.
a stunting of growth that is perpetuated by the feminine mystique.
— Betty Friedan
When Betty Friedan (b. 1921) attended her fifteenth college reunion at Smith College, she
conducted a survey among her fellow alumni. What the women she spoke to had to say about the
state of their lives eventually became a book that, upon its release in 1963, would spark a national
debate about a woman's role in American society. The Feminine Mystique begins, famously:
conducted a survey among her fellow alumni. What the women she spoke to had to say about the
state of their lives eventually became a book that, upon its release in 1963, would spark a national
debate about a woman's role in American society. The Feminine Mystique begins, famously:
The problem lay buried, unspoken, for many years in the minds of American
women. It was a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that
women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century in the United States. Each
suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for
groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her
children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night
— she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question — “Is this all?”
women. It was a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that
women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century in the United States. Each
suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for
groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her
children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night
— she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question — “Is this all?”
“The book reached millions of readers,” says Kenneth C. Davis. “Women were… suddenly
discussing the fact that society's institutions — government, mass media and advertising,
medicine and psychiatry, education, and organized religion — were systematically barring them
from becoming anything more than housewives and mothers.”
discussing the fact that society's institutions — government, mass media and advertising,
medicine and psychiatry, education, and organized religion — were systematically barring them
from becoming anything more than housewives and mothers.”
85
… YOU'RE NOT
SUPPOSED TO KNOW
SUPPOSED TO KNOW