Posted on 02/04/2006 1:10:18 PM PST by GeneD
WASHINGTON - Betty Friedan, whose manifesto "The Feminine Mystique" became a best seller in the 1960s and laid the groundwork for the modern feminist movement, died Saturday, her birthday. She was 85.
Friedan died at her home of congestive heart failure, according to a cousin, Emily Bazelon.
Friedan's assertion in her 1963 best seller that having a husband and babies was not everything and that women should aspire to separate identities as individuals, was highly unusual, if not revolutionary, just after the baby and suburban booms of the Eisenhower era.
The feminine mystique, she said, was a phony bill of goods society sold to women that left them unfulfilled, suffering from "the problem that has no name" and seeking a solution in tranquilizers and psychoanalysis.
"A woman has got to be able to say, and not feel guilty, `Who am I, and what do I want out of life?' She mustn't feel selfish and neurotic if she wants goals of her own, outside of husband and children," Friedan said.
In the racial, political and sexual conflicts of the 1960s and '70s, Friedan's was one of the most commanding voices and recognizable presences in the women's movement.
As a founder and first president of the National Organization for Women in 1966, she staked out positions that seemed extreme at the time on such issues as abortion, sex-neutral help-wanted ads, equal pay, promotion opportunities and maternity leave.
I personally never knew of any woman who had an abortion for "convenience" or career (and I know many many professional women). I think the younger generation knows quite well to sort out the good from the bad.
The "bill of goods" was also materialism... that somehow the house and the appliances would be enough to make one happy. You are correct. It is all about finding balance in life.
You really shouldn't start your reply out with a way worn out cliche. Oh I forgot you are a lawyer, nevermind.
As for Ms. Freidan's passing, sympathies to her family.
Hey, I see we are sharing an opinion!!!
She harmed as many lives, homes and households as she and her wicked master could have.
Pr 5:22 -"His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins."
And a loud cheer was heard from the survivors.
I'd rather be pregnant and barefoot at home than down on my knees in the [Clinton] oval office.
Kate O'bierne
died on her 85th birthday
And then look what she did:
"In 'The Second Stage' (1981), she argued that feminists must reclaim the family and bring more men into the movement by addressing child care, parental leave, and flexible work schedules."
First you knock women down, make them think they're crazy and unfulfilled for wanting to raise their kids, make men obsolete as husbands and fathers, and then you turn around and tell the FemiNazis to "reclaim the family" that many of them deserted or aborted to "find themselves" and demand all sorts of rights from employers and the few husbands that DID stick it out. What a racket! *Rolleyes*
Maybe she was unhappy because she didn't marry her lover, unindicted Communist spy, Ted Hall.
I don't think Monica would be in Friedan's list of most admirable women. :)
No truer words were ever spoken. I know too many women whose lives were damned because they bought into the lies of Friedan's ilk. She was an evil, evil tool in Satan's hands.
I have less argument with the original feminists than the ones of today. The ones of Friedan's time wanted women to go beyond the traditional roles of mothers, nurses, teachers, etc. It was a too-narrow scope for some women. I understand that and have met some women who would have wasted their talents trying to be what women were expected to be in the 1950s. However, the modern feminist is basically a hypocrite who wants all the advantages of womanhood when it is convenient to be women and all the advantages of manhood when it is convenient to be men. And their normal M.O. is to attack and belittle men rather than attempt to improve women by producing more complete, competent ladies instead of more stupid and subservient men.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
My dear fellow.... I'm not Christian at all; however, I support family friend Don Feder's attempts to stop the defamation of Christians.
Also, I rechecked about Betty Friedan's commie lover (he was an assistant physicist to the Soviet sympathizer, Robert Oppenheimer) and the name is not given; ergo, I do not know if it was Ted Hall or not -- my apologies!
"That woman did a lot of damage."
True enough. There's a world of broken lives behind that statement.
May she receive the judgement that she so richly deserves.
I'll shed not a tear.
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