A Different Look at Betty Friedan

foxnews.com ^ | Feb. 7, 2006 | Wendy McElroy

[conservatrice]

Betty Friedan (1921-2006) died last Saturday at the age of 85. Eulogies have stacked up quickly for the feminist icon: Friedan founded modern feminism; she rescued women from the '50s; she pioneered the brave 'new woman' who now strides through society. I disagree with those eulogies about the content of Friedan's legacy. The disagreement contains no malice; however, because Friedan is a public and now-historical figure, an accurate view of her social impact is simply necessary. Accuracy may be especially important as the impact of her death is already being used (or abused) by various political organizations and groups to promote their agendas. For example, the press release from the National Organization for Women, which Friedan was instrumental in founding in 1966, reads like a fundraiser. At the other end of the spectrum, some "masculinist" groups "rejoice in the fact that her hateful voice is now silenced." A starting point of consensus on Friedan is possible, even among extremes. She was a remarkable woman who deeply influenced the culture of her time. But for better or worse? -- that's where battle engages.

Some of the 'facts' and assumptions about her life advanced in the eulogies demand closer examination. Assumption One: Friedan was an apolitical housewife who had an 'aha' moment. The New York Times sums up its eulogy with the observation that Friedan will "be forever known as the suburban housewife who started a revolution with The Feminine Mystique," her best-selling book published in 1963. Although The Feminine Mystique capitalized upon, and thus acknowledged, Friedan's ivy-league education, it also presented her as a basically apolitical homemaker who stumbled across political truth through viewing her own domestic circumstances. This is myth.

[hang 'em]

Hopefully the beeotch is roasting in hell next to marx, stalin, hitler, pol pot and mohammad.

[ClearCase_guy]

I usually think it best to speak well of the dead, at least until some interval of time has passed.

But, in the spirit of Jimmy Carter, I'll just say that she was an evil Stalinist stooge who hurt a lot of women and children. And beat her husband, too.

[Dubh_Ghlase]

Please if someone remembers this incident, confirm, deny, or correct me:

Wasn't it Betty Friedan who, when arriving in Chicago for the 1968 Dem convention, had a bag break open on the airport conveyer belt and a supply of rather "risque" magazines fell out. I won't delve into what I heard they were of, unless I get some kind of confirmation of the incident...

[camle]

wasn't she an encourager of using lies to further the feminist agenda (50,000 anorexia deaths per year in the US, the Super Bowl Abuse spike, etc.)?

[apackof2]

She wrote, "Housewives are mindless and thing-hungry…Housework is peculiarly suited to the capabilities of feeble-minded girls; it can hardly use the abilities of a woman of average or normal human intelligence."

God Bless The American Housewife Lyrics

Look at me, I'm gorgeous in my housecoat with my coffee cup
I bend to get the paper, every neighbor's tryin' to check me out
Look at me, I'm lovely as I wave beside my minivan
Look at how my diamonds seem to sparkle on the garbage can

Chorus:
God bless the American housewife
How she does it I'll never know
God bless the American housewife
She could use a miracle for sure
God bless the American housewife
Cleanin' up the world for you and me
God bless the American housewife

Look at how my children play Commando in the cul-de-sac
Look at how my husband has survived another heart attack
Look at all the other mothers envious of all my things
Have to call the plummer 'cause my daughter flushed my wedding ring

(Repeat Chorus)

Bridge:
Look at me, I'm beautiful and glamorous in rubber gloves
Look how my tiara can be bent back to the shape it was
I can do the laundry and make dinner while I'm on the phone
Look at me, I'm sexy as the devil when I mow the lawn

Chorus 2x
How she does it I'll never know
God bless the American housewife

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Fugly from every angle.

[lawgirl]

Bump!

[Pessimist]

"Housewives are mindless and thing-hungry…Housework is peculiarly suited to the capabilities of feeble-minded girls; it can hardly use the abilities of a woman of average or normal human intelligence."

I think the mindset demonstrated right there is the essence of much of what has gone wrong during my generation. And much of the problems and dissatisfaction we witness today among our younger generation is nothing more than the fruit of this misbegotten sociological seed.

[sageb1]

Betty Friedan once said that it was easier for her to start a movement to change society than it was to change her own life.

Unfortunately, this pretty much sums up how the left thinks. I don't have to change. If the world changes, then my life will be better. They do not understand the idea that society reflects the ills of the individual and that as more individuals clean up their own lives, society will reflect that.

[linda_22003]

Mowing the lawn? That's just...... WRONG. (shudder)

[Tokra]

I usually think it best to speak well of the dead, at least until some interval of time has passed. But, in the spirit of Jimmy Carter, I'll just say that she was an evil Stalinist stooge who hurt a lot of women and children. And beat her husband, too.

And she was also a dead ringer for Helen Thomas!

[apackof2]

Mowing the lawn? That's just...... WRONG. (shudder)

I like mowing the lawn, especially the first Spring cut, the scent of freshly mowed grass!

[conservatrice]

I'm only 30, so I never knew much about Friedan, other than that she was one of those old hag feminists. I found this article interesting as a good overview of her from a conservative perspective. Fortunately, my parents were traditional, I grew up in a happy home and look forward to someday being a stay at home mom. I'm finding that many many women in my generation would love to be stay at home moms.

I think that once all of these old hags have died off, the lives of women in this country are going to greatly improve.

[Itzlzha]

A Different Look at Betty Friedan

Does it involve this ?

And wouldn't it look like this

[little jeremiah]

later read.