The Feminine Mystique is a landmark book by feminist Betty Friedan, published in 1963.
The work depicts the widespread discontent of women in mainstream American society in the post-World War II period, exploring the causes of modern women's frustration with traditional roles.
The book, considered the most important of the 20th century, exposed the position of women in society at that time, to show that behind the proud passion to play the role of "housewife" serving husband and children was the reality that "women were sold their intelligence and ambition for the petty price of a new washing machine".
Betty Friedan coined the term feminine mystique to describe society's assumption that women can find fulfillment through the joyful work of being a housewife, marrying, and viewing child-rearing as their own vocation and duty.
Furthermore, popular views held that “truly feminine” women had no desire for higher education, careers, or political voice. Instead, they found complete fulfillment in the realm of domesticity.
Cover of the book "The Feminine Mysteries" in 2010 (Photo: Vietnamese Women Publishing House).
According to the author, the concept of "feminine mystique" was created and maintained by Americans through books, newspapers, television, and fashionable value standards related to "family home.
This concept has shaped women's lives, creating the belief that the injustices and disadvantages they endure are part of God's mysterious creative design, not created by the historical and social processes.
Friedan revealed that many housewives were dissatisfied with their lives but had difficulty expressing their feelings. She called this unhappiness and inability to live up to the feminine mystique "the problem that has no name".
The Feminine Mystique sparked the second wave of American feminism in the 20th century and is considered a manifesto, laying the foundation for the American women's movement, which in turn spread into the international women's movement.
Friedan used statistics and interviews to illustrate women's desires.
For example, by the late 1950s, 14 million girls were getting engaged by age 17, and the average age of marriage had dropped to 20. The number of women attending college fell from 47 percent in 1920 to 35 percent in 1958.
During that time, in the mid-1950s, 60% of female college students dropped out of college to marry or stopped further education before they became "undesirable" on the marriage market.
The media still perpetuates the view that women go to college only to get married.
From presenting women's natural roles as mothers and caregivers, to advocating the proper way to care for a husband, the media and education system have helped perpetuate all aspects of the woman's mystique.
Portrait of feminist Betty Friedan (Photo: The New York Times).
Unable to achieve the feminine mystique, many women spend years with psychologists who try to help them adapt to the "feminine role," or they take tranquilizers and drink alcohol to alleviate their feelings of emptiness.
Friedan offers a solution for women to develop a "life plan" that includes a successful career as well as a family.
Despite receiving much criticism, it is undeniable that The Feminine Mystique brought about awakening value in helping many women think about their role and identity in society.
The book is an insightful look at reality while inspiring the feminist and women's liberation movements.
Betty Friedan (1921 - 2006), born in Peoria (Illinois, USA) into a family of Jewish origin.
In 1942, Friedan graduated from Smith College with honors, majoring in psychology. Despite her academic excellence, Friedan turned down a scholarship to the University of California to move to New York and become a labor reporter for a women's newspaper.
In 1966, Friedan co-founded and served as President of the National Organization for Women (NOW).
Other books by Betty Friedan: The Second Stage , It Changed My Life : Writings on the Women's Movement , Beyond Gender and The Fountain of Age, autobiography Life so Far .
Betty Friedan died on February 4, 2006 of heart disease.
In 2013, she and other women became the inspiration for Makers: Women Who Make America - a three-part, three-hour documentary by director Barak Goodman about the feminist movement in the last five decades of the 20th century.
In 2014, her biography was included in the American National Biography Online (ANB). Also in the same year, Glamour magazine voted her into the list of "75 most important women of the past 75 years".
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