Betty+Friedan


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=**B E T T Y * F R I E D A N**= February 4, 1921 - February 4, 2006

The 1950's were not a progressive time for women in the United States. Many women were not content with their lives, but didn't do anything about it. Because of this, it appeared to others that living a life as just a housewife and/or mother was fulfilling enough. However, this was not the case. After //The Feminine Mystique// was published in 1963, all of this changed. Without Betty Friedan, it is questionable whether or not Modern Feminist Movement would've begun at the time that it did.

Betty Friedan accomplished many things throughout her 85 years, but what she is probably most famous for is her well known novel, //The Feminine Mystique//. It is said that this book started the modern feminist movement. Published in 1963, this book attacked the idea that women were only supposed to be mothers and housewives. It sparked the second wave of feminism throughout the nation. Some of her other works include //The Second Stage//, //It Changed My Life: Writings on the Women's Movement//, //The Fountain of Age//, and her autobiography, //Life so Far//.

Betty Friedan was a woman who stuck to her morals. Always a strong supporter of equality between women and men, she didn't seem to mind that she was one of the very few women working at her time. After marrying Carl Friedman (the "m" was dropped from the name after their marriage) in 1947, Friedan continued to work as a paid employee. This was quite uncommon for a woman to do at the time, and it clearly showed her want for equality.

In 1966, Betty Friedan co-founded the National Organization for Women (NOW) with 27 other women and men. From 1966 until 1970, she served as NOW's first president. This organization's purpose was to end discrimination of women, particularly in the workplace. Clearly, this was just the place for this feminist to be working. In 1970, Friedan helped organize the Women's Strike for Equality. This strike called for many things that would be essential if women hoped to become regular workers. They included: twenty-four-hour childcare centers, abortion on demand, and equal opportunity in education and employment. Sadly, all of the demands are yet to be fulfilled. In 1993, Friedan was abducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.


 * QUOTATIONS BY BETTY FRIEDAN**

//"Men weren't really the enemy- they were fellow victims suffering from an outmoded masculine mystique that made them feel unnecessarily inadequate when there were no bears to kill."//

//"The only way for a woman, as for a man, to find herself, to know herself as a person, is by creative work of her own. There is no other way."

"The problem that has no name- which is simply the fact that American women are kept from growing to their full human capacities- is taking a far greater toll on the physical and mental health of our country than any known disease."//


 * Citations:** [|Wikipedia][|Women's Hall of Fame][|The Nation]