Stares at the World

Tagged: betty friedan

5

Philosophy

An Analysis of The Feminine Mystique, Chapter 2

Read my review of Chapter 1 here; the ongoing discussion is at Sunshine Mary’s site. Right off the bat, Friedan inundates us with more stories of women who are all “Relieved to find out I wasn’t the only one!” This is followed up by examples of “impossible ideals” being sold to women in advertising. “I’m living the same life as the TV people – why aren’t I haaaaappppyyyy?” On the surface this seems very similar to the Genesis of the Manosphere, with one major difference: the Manosphere developed because we were lied to; Friedan’s “Problem with no name” is a...

22

Philosophy

An Analysis of The Feminine Mystique, Chapter 1

Introduction The problem lay buried, unspoken, for many years in the minds of American women. It was a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of the 20th century in the United States. Each suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night—she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question—‘Is this all? The ever lovely Sunshine Mary has organized a reading and discussion of...