6.3.3

Betty Friedan

Test yourself

Betty Friedan (1921-2006)

Betty Friedan was a second-wave American feminist. Her most famous work is “The Feminine Mystique”.

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"The Feminine Mystique" (1963)

  • Friedan wrote about the “problem that has no name” - the problem of women limited in societal opportunities who had few options but to become wives and mothers.
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Careers for women

  • Friedan argued that women were just as capable as men to have careers, but that society restricted women’s options.
    • So, the oppressive laws and social views that restricted women’s opportunities should be changed.
    • For example, in America in the early to mid 1900s ‘marriage bars’ were in place in many organisations, which were policies used by firms to fire women when they got married, and not hire married women.
    • Policies like this stopped women from having equality of opportunity.
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Opportunities for women

  • Friedan’s work supported increased equality of opportunity for women, who were being held back from their potential by society.
  • Friedan argued for the rights of women to become self-fulfilled - supporting the liberal idea of self-determination and rationality.

Jump to other topics

1Democracy & Participation

2Political Parties

3Electoral Systems

4Voting Behaviour & the Media

5Conservatism

6Liberalism

7Socialism

8The UK Constitution

9The UK Parliament

10The Prime Minister & the Executive

11Relationships Between Government Branches

12US Constitution & Federalism

13US Congress

14US Presidency

15US Supreme Court & Civil Rights

16US Democracy & Participation

17Comparing Democracies

18Feminism

19Nationalism

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