The Feminine Mystique: Penguin Modern Classics : Friedan, Betty by Betty Friedan

The Feminine Mystique: Penguin Modern Classics : Friedan, Betty Reviews

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  Stephen Cummins

  The introduction says the author relied only on anectotal evidence of interviewing 70 or so unversity classmates for her conclusion that middle class white women are not happy with just going from university to becoming domestic servants to their husbands. The book has numerous sources of research and I think solidly backs up it's point. It was sensational at the time and drove the second wave for equal employment and indirectly reporductive rights for women.
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  Nathaniel

  I wanted to understand how feminism has arrived at it's modern point. This is the best starting point as this is the book that galvanised second wave feminism. It highlights how she wanted the work women engaged with to be valued as much as the men's, with protections put in place for women in the work place. She wanted the role of house wife and mother to be valued in society as much as the bread winner. But we now see that this has ultimately failed as the quality of parenting is much harder to judge than the monetary income for labour.I recommend this book to anyone who wants a historical perspective and where it started and what could have been. With a follow up for Sue Ellen Browder's "Subverted" to see where it was derailed by one Laurence Lund.
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  Chastity Deumante!!!

  this book is what I needed after being let down by men so many times in the office, family, relationships and friendships. men walking over me. this was the empowering text I needed to read to realise my full power in this earth. brought me to tears several times.however I couldn't finish it and had to take a break as I became way too impassioned and started becoming a bit of a man hater which is super unhealthy, not me and NOT the point of the book.
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  Evangeline Don

  Informative to read Friedan's comments about the 1950s/60s and compare to today. Information on the rise and fall of gender equality and sexuality. Very progressive for its time. Allows an insight into the average white middle class American woman's dissatisfactions, but largely excludes other societal groups.
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  sabrinapower

  Can't wait to read it