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History of feminism essay
The feminist movement
History of feminism essay
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Bettye Naomi Goldstein, better known as Betty Friedan, was an American feminist. She was born on February 4, 1921, in Peoria, Illinois. Her book The Feminine Mystique was very helpful for a lot of women to find fulfillment outside of their traditional roles.. She was also one of the co-founders of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and its first President. Betty was a good student at Smith College (All-female college), from where she graduated in 1942 with a bachelor's degree. She got married 5 years later and had three children. People that knew her said that she was one of those women that would stay at home to take care of her family. But as many other women, she got tired of her routine and that’s when she started to get an interest in equality of gender. She knew something was going on, and so did other women, but none of them seemed to realize what this problem was.
In 1957, Friedan returned to her old college, Smith College, and surveyed some of the students. And what she found out was exactly was she was expecting. Many of the women surveyed had the “problem with no name”. They were feeling bored, anxious and depressed, and the most part of them said that this was their fault.They were taught to always look pretty for their husbands and to serve them in
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We can be hired in jobs that were only for men back then. The research process allows us to know this kind of information. Many people are not aware of how bad life was for women in the past. Although the information we might find in some of the resources are not entirely true, reading them help us to make our own point of view of different topics. From what I’ve read, and what I know, Betty Friedan had a positive effect in women's lives. But all of the Feminist movement had also a negative impact in society. Nowadays some women have full time works just as their husbands and they don’t have time to check up on their
... real-world jobs in order for integration to work. The feminist movement gave the opportunity for women to have a voice in their lives, and has provided women with resources they otherwise would be unable to access. Each topic that was covered in the paper has had a hand in our lives. Whether it was being taught natural selection in school, getting an education, or equality we all have been influenced by the past.
The “Feminine Mystique” is a highly influential book in the early second wave feminism movement. It is said that it helped shaped the demands of the second wave by insisting for the right to work outside the home, and to be paid equally; the right for reproductive freedom; the demand that women should not be expected to have children and be mothers if they do not want to. Betty Friedan addresses “the problem that has no name” which is the women who are highly educated, suburban housewives that are bored and want something “more” in their life. This is the point where women knew we needed a second wave. Women’s role had gone backwards and they were beginning to realize that they were all experiencing the same “problem that has no name”. “The
Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights based on the equality of the sexes. However, Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan did not agree that this definition was concrete, and it is essential to know who these women are because they were the start of the women's movement. They created feminism and equality, but each approached this idea differently. Steinem defined feminism to be an advocacy for women to become better than men. While Friedan viewed feminism to have never existed because it should have been a general human rights movement . Their ideas of feminism were split because of how they were raised and the predicaments they faced while growing up. This lead to Friedan’s belief that the National Organization for Women (NOW) had to focus
In Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan wrote about women's inequality from men to women's equality to men. She also wrote about women accepting the inequality to women fighting for equality. Friedan comes across to me as a woman with strong beliefs who puts a lot of effort and information in her book. I wasn't aware that this book would give such an extreme amount of information. Her writing style proves that she has been in a feminist movement. Her writing style shows she has a passion for every word she put into this book. She also writes in a way that makes a person interested in what her beliefs are. Friedan has a mass amount of information to prove every point she has. I believe that Feminine Mystique is probably her favorite work to write about. Her writing style proves each point she responds to.
One would have to be a fool to believe that men and women have always been or even are equal. Only in the past century have women been allowed to vote and 50 years since women of color could vote. Even today, women and men are held to different standards. Betty Friedan (1921-2006) was a feminist that was not only an author, but also, the first president of an organization known as the National Organization for Women. She is well-known for her work "The Feminine Manifesto", and she is the author of the article "The Importance of Work". Betty Friedan was a feminist during the height of the women's rights movement, so it is not surprising in the least that her article hit on women's rights. "The Importance
Written for the average American housewife, author Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique is a true feminist novel. The piece of work was published in 1963, almost two decades after the end of WWII, at a time when a woman’s expected role was to be a housewife and a mother. It was during the war, however, that it was seen as socially acceptable, and even patriotic, for a woman to work and have a career outside of the home, being that the men were away at combat. With the demand of women in the workforce at an all time high, images of strong, ambitious, working women emerged throughout the media and press.
Women were granted the right to work in labor industries, as all the men joined in the World Wars. Even though women were still discriminated in the workforce by receiving lower pay than men, the number of women working increased around the United States. After women began changing the labor industries, their voting rights were granted, changing the political views of the United States. Even though women were discriminated against throughout society in the 1920’s, they still fought for their rights as women that deserved an important role within our society. This change in women’s attitude has influenced women across the world to value themselves and their importance.
Betty Friedan is the author of the famous book, which credited the beginning of a second –wave feminism in the United States. Friedan’s book begins with describing “the problem that has no name” to women who had everything, but were unhappy, depress and felt like they had nothing. Women are expected to be happy by buying things, a new refrigerator, house, best-selling coffee, having the right make-up, clothes and shoes, this is what the Feminine Mystique symbolized. Something that women wanted but can never have. Furthermore, society in present day is full of advertisements everywhere we go in TV, books and on the radio. The young generation as well as adults get trap in a fantasy world full of perfection. Women always want to have a thin waist, the most expensive make-up and purses, it’s all based on stereotypes. In her book, Friedan mentions that the average age of marriage was decreasing compared to increasing birthrate of women. Moreover, Friedan has been nit-pick at for focusing on the middle-class women and for prejudice against
Parry, Manon. "Betty Friedan: Feminist Icon and Founder of the National Organization for Women." American Journal of Public Health 100.9 (2010): 1584-1585. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.
During the Great War and the huge amount of men that were deployed created the need to employ women in hospitals, factories, and offices. When the war ended the women would return home or do more traditional jobs such as teaching or shop work. “Also in the 1920s the number of women working raised by fifty percent.” They usually didn’t work if they were married because they were still sticking to the role of being stay at home moms while the husband worked and took care of the family financially. But among the single women there was a huge increase in employment. “Women were still not getting payed near as equally as men and were expected to quit their jobs if they married or pregnant.” Although women were still not getting payed as equally it was still a huge change for the women's
With all the new acts being passed women were able to go to school and work, and women pursued these new opportunities. There was a rising rate of women enrolling in colleges. Females surpassed the number of men applying (The Role of Women in the 70 's - Exploring the Seventies). Thousands of women were going to college and participating highly in clubs and sometimes sports. Not only were women participating in schooling, women started to hold positions in Congress. Three percent of our congressional representatives were women by the 1970s. There were many newspaper job ads created that were calling for the help of women, thus promoting more women to enter the workforce. Along with these changes there was more personal strengths created in the home. Husbands were getting regularly involved with family meals and housework, thus creating more financial and emotional strength in families (Eisenberg). In the late 70’s females were not only participating in college for their education but they were also obtain financial ground stating the employer 's can not discrimination against pregnant women (The 1960s-70s American Feminist Movement: Breaking Down Barriers for
Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique, explains the mind set of society in the 1960s. She writes that the women of the ‘60s were identified only as creatures looking for “sex, babies, and home” (Friedan 36). She goes on to say “The only passion, the only pursuit, the only goal a woman [was] permitted [was] the pursuit of a man” (Friedan 36). This mind set, this “feminine mystique,” is clearly shown throughout the show Mad Men. The side effect of the feminine mystique hurt all the women of this time. Matthew Weiner shows how this conception of the “ideal woman” hurt all of his lead women. The consequences are shown in the two women who bought into the idea, Betty and Joan, and the one who re...
Betty Friedan was born on February 4th, 1921 in Peoria, Illinois as Bettye Naomi Goldstein. As the daughter of Harry and Miriam Goldstein, she was the oldest of three. It is very likely that her parents sparked her feelings towards women’s rights. Friedan’s father was the owner of a jewelry store. When he married Miriam, she was forced to give up her job in newspaper. Betty Friedan’s mother was very passionate about journalism and urged Betty from a young
To get the answer to her question, she began to survey women of Smith College. Her findings lead to the writing of her first book, The Feminine Mystique. The book uses other women’s personal experiences along with her own experiences to describes the idea behind being a feminist. “At every step of the way, the feminists had to fight the conception that they were violating the God-given nature of woman… The image of the feminists as inhuman, fiery man-eater, whether expressed as an offense against God or in the modern terms of sexual perversion, is not unlike the stereotype of the Negro as a primitive animal or the union member as an anarchist” (86-87). That image of women that has been created by society and the same idea applies to race and how it is something that is so prone to society about things no one can change. Feminists were the ones who were able to fight for their rights even though some may believe that isn't what women are made to be but Betty Friedan did, which motivated her to fight for women’s rights in the second wave feminist movement. She was able to accomplish helping more women fight for their rights and set the ground for the women fighting
In her essay “The Importance of Work,” from The Feminine Mystique published in 1963, Betty Friedan confronts American women’s search for identity. Betty Friedan’s purpose in the essay is to urge women’s roles to change into a role that defines themselves. Friedan intended the essay for the public but primarily for women. She saw the audience as being uninformed of the situation and tried to make them known. Human identity was an important concern for the thinkers of the time. The work people did is what made them who they were individually. According to Friedan, women need work because work satisfies their contributes to the creativity of the human society. Because work is important to them, women are defined by the work they do. Betty Friedan, an activist, an author, a feminist, and the first president of the National Organization for women, was a leading figure in the women’s movement in the United States. Friedan was a leader in the second wave of feminism. When Betty was a housewife she was dissatisfied with the role women played in the society. This inspired her to write The Feminine Mystique. She now continues to hold on to her legacy for