Betty Friedan's "Feminine Mystique"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, after World War II, Betty Friedan in her renowned book "Feminine Mystique" urges that women should not have to live up to any sort of image, real or imagined, but should learn to live their lives in a way that provides them with satisfaction. The author points out that Friedan, in essence, was a pioneer only in the sense that she brought up-to-date what had been going on for nearly a century; she put her finger on the feminine malaise. The paper relates that Friedan's closing chapter, dealing with self-realization, has been achieved because today women are marrying later, not dropping out of school to marry and bear children, restricting the number of children, often postponing childbirth in favor of a career and the glass ceiling, while not totally shattered, has severe cracks in it.

From the Paper:

"However, before celebrating true gender equality, one should look back again at Ms Lerner's letter and her complaint that feminism is passing African-American (and by inference other minority) women by. There are few minority women who have made it to, or near, the top in American business- in advertising, in magazine editing, in publishing romance novels, and certainly in the movies, on records, and on TV. But, even on television, there are still many blanks which seem reserved for white women- very few minority anchors (except in those metropolitan areas where viewers need to be attracted- areas like Los Angeles and new York, Houston and Phoenix. What's more, the decision makers and producers who hire minorities- or don't hire them- are mainly white, with the obvious exception of Spike Lee. There are no major leaders of any woman's movement who is black or Hispanic, even though there are some high-ranking minorities on Clinton's Cabinet, and, until her defeat in 1998, there was a black female senator from Illinois. Yes, there are two women on the Supreme Court (but their pol9tics tend to cancel one another out)."

More papers on Betty Friedan's "Feminine Mystique":

• Analytical Essay # 31170 : "The Feminine Mystique"
• Book Review # 112403 : "Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique"
• Comparison Essay # 21139 : "The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan and "The Hearts of Men" by Barbara Ehrenreich )"

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