The Feminine Mystique

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It's a hit!

I would have given this 5 stars, but chapter 12 and a few other bits - specifically the concentration camp and genocide analogies as well as some o... (show more)

I would have given this 5 stars, but chapter 12 and a few other bits - specifically the concentration camp and genocide analogies as well as some of the commentary on homosexuality was too much a product of its time - a bad product. Worse, it wasn't necessary for the overall thesis.

That said, this book is still brilliant and relevant in in many ways. It is relevant in terms of the well researched history for understanding feminism in the U.S. in particular, how the move during this period of women back into the housewife role (as opposed to the 1920s-1940s) was linked to things such as war, political context, sociological and psychological discourse, religion and especially business and marketing. It is relevant in terms of understanding how women who came of age just after this book internalized this argument (my mom for example never read this book, but I can see the impact of the discourse it started, on her thinking). It is relevant in terms of the struggles and decisions that women have to make, that surprisingly seem in many ways to have changed very little -- although arguably the intervening 45 years have provided many of the opportunities that Friedan argues for and that I grew up taking for granted.

It is also extremely relevant in terms of the ways in which the religious right and the political right in the U.S. (not always the same but often, sadly) keep attempting to whittle away the progress that women have made and send women ''home.' If you are a 30something year old woman with a career, you understand at this point what it is like to have pundits, legislators and the like in your uterus (figuratively). And if you read this book, you may better understand why they want so desperately to be there.

It's not clear you can totally understand feminism in the U.S. then or now without reading this book. (show less)

 

 

by Kolleen Bouchane

No, it's a flop!

I had a very hard time finishing this book. I appreciate it for all that it did for the women's rights movement, and I'm sure if I had read it at t... (show more)

I had a very hard time finishing this book. I appreciate it for all that it did for the women's rights movement, and I'm sure if I had read it at the time of its publication, I would have appreciated it more. Unfortunately, many of Friedan's conjectures - on homosexuality and autism, for example - are outdated and in many ways insulting with current knowledge on the issues. Still, it is important to read due to its historical importance. (show less)

 

 

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  Interesting account of the struggle that many women encountered during old America (circa 1950s), the perfect housewife syndrome, aka, the feminine mystique following the 2nd World War. Many women were discouraged to pursue further academic pursuits / careers and solely focus on their housewife duties and obligations which would be used to justify their development. The feelings of emptiness and psychological stigma are well discussed and analysed. There is also a really insightful section on... (show more)

  Interesting account of the struggle that many women encountered during old America (circa 1950s), the perfect housewife syndrome, aka, the feminine mystique following the 2nd World War. Many women were discouraged to pursue further academic pursuits / careers and solely focus on their housewife duties and obligations which would be used to justify their development. The feelings of emptiness and psychological stigma are well discussed and analysed. There is also a really insightful section on the marketing ploys that businesses use to advertise their products to women and how they segment them and attract/retain them as consumers and the ones that they do not want as long-term customers. Despite the focus on North American cultural values, one can see similar patterns that have evolved in other parts of the world. Overall, this may seem dated for today but I still see many parallels to the 1950s era of American women where perhaps there has been some progress, but the nature of the game may still persist. A must-read on the development and evolution of societal roles (show less)

   

   

  by Naische S. Fulena on Nov 13, 2009 at 12:53AM

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  "The Feminine Mystique" is a hugely important book. It investigates and shines a light on the dissatisfaction and boredom of the generation of women who, after the war, was cajoled into giving up any plans on having a career outside the home and focussing on "occupation housewife". It exposes some of the economic and cultural pressures that lead to the development of the feminine mystique, the idea that women are fulfilled through the work they do for others, by taking car... (show more)

  "The Feminine Mystique" is a hugely important book. It investigates and shines a light on the dissatisfaction and boredom of the generation of women who, after the war, was cajoled into giving up any plans on having a career outside the home and focussing on "occupation housewife". It exposes some of the economic and cultural pressures that lead to the development of the feminine mystique, the idea that women are fulfilled through the work they do for others, by taking care of their home, their husband and their children.

  Before and during the war, American women had won and enjoyed considerable freedoms for themselves. They were well educated and ambitious. The cultural change that defined women purely by their looks, husbands, children and homes turned women into eternal children with no interests outside the home and nothing to do once their children had started school. Feeling that they were wasting their education and guilty at being bored, American housewives turned to alcohol, tranquilisers and sex to cope. They turned themselves off.

  Friedan saw the status quo as a waste of human potential. She wanted to help not just women but also the men around them by re-engaging women, allowing them to have dreams of things other than babies, demanding that they stretch themselves to be the best they can. She understood that equality isn't just about gender and that society will not benefit from suppressing any one group into a state of childlike dependence. Both the individual and the group benefits from individuals growing up, taking responsibility for their own fate and becoming, in the words of Freud, fully human.

  Not all of Friedan's conclusions hold. She was writing in the late 50s and 60s and while much of what she writes is still frightening relevant, the social and biological sciences has made some advances that makes her theories on, notably, homosexuality, irrelevant. But one or two logical lapses do not negate the validity of main argument.

  The mystique still exists and it still influences behaviour. Although women are encouraged to make their own life-plan and have their own careers, advertising makes it clear that they are still responsible for making buying decisions for products centred on the home. Dad does DIY; mum cleans, feeds the wee ones and cooks. But now, that's not all she does so she has a greater purpose, a wider context. Family is part of what a woman is now: it does not singly define her.

  Not everything that Friedan fought for has been won: the rights to abortion that she won on a federal level has been repealed in many American states; women still don't earn the same as men for the same work and they still do more housework and childcare than their men. But I think the idea that men and women can - and will mutually benefit from - existing together in equal partnership is widely accepted. That this equal partnership must be between fully realised human beings, not two representatives of a gender, is an idea that should be repeated again and again. (show less)

   

   

  by Caroline von Schmalensee on Aug 31, 2009 at 10:08AM

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