Who was Betty Friedan?
Friedan was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1921. A survey of her Smith College classmates led to The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963, which argued that women were oppressed by a mystique of feminine fulfillment. In 1966 she co-founded the National Organization for Women and served as its first president until 1970. She co-founded NARAL in 1969 and the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971. Her later books included The Second Stage. She died on her 85th birthday in 2006.
Political views
- She called the dissatisfaction many women felt the problem that has no name, and argued that women were oppressed by the mystique of feminine fulfillment.Source: encyclopedia.com
- NOW's early priorities included enforcing the Title VII ban on sex discrimination and challenging gender-segregated help-wanted ads.Source: newworldencyclopedia.org
- NOW also supported flight attendants who sued over being forced out of their jobs at 32 or upon marriage.Source: newworldencyclopedia.org
- In 1969 she helped found what became NARAL, which aimed to decriminalize abortion, though she later said she was uneasy about the movement's narrow focus on abortion.Source: newworldencyclopedia.org
- She was a prominent supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.Source: encyclopedia.com
- In the early 1970s she opposed feminist politics that treated lesbian sexuality as a political issue, endorsed separatism or condemned men as oppressors.Source: ebsco.com
- In The Second Stage she argued that the movement should unite with men toward equality, and many feminists saw this as a betrayal.Source: ebsco.com
- She lobbied the United Nations to proclaim 1975 the International Year of Women.Source: encyclopedia.com
Legacy
Admirers credit Friedan with naming a widespread frustration, mobilizing a mass movement and pushing for legal equality at work and in public life. Critics say her focus was on middle-class white women, leaving out women of color and poor women. Many feminists saw The Second Stage as a betrayal, while she argued that lesbian sexual politics divided the movement. Her temperament was also widely discussed, and her husband described her in harsh terms during their 1969 divorce, which involved allegations of abuse on both sides.