Honoring Hen: Betty Friedan

March 27, 2008

Honoring Hen: Betty Friedan

I picked up the book The Feminine Mystique a few years ago as I was trying to expand my women’s history knowledge, and was amazed by its complexity and boldness, especially having been published in 1963 – not long after the 50s house-wife movement. The author, Betty Friedan, is who I am honoring today. I would say she is known best for this book and for her work as the founder and first president of the National Organization for Women.

Friedan lived from 1921 – 2006 and was born to immigrant Jews living in Peoria, Illinois. She graduated from Smith College and went on to complete her masters degree at UC Berkeley.

The Feminine Mystique challenged the lives of women who had to find fulfillment in their lives through their husbands and children and it triggered a definite period of change in American culture.

I’ll leave you with some of Friedan’s personal beliefs:

“When she stopped conforming to the conventional picture of femininity she finally began to enjoy being a woman.”

“Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.“

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