Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.
The Feminine Mystique
 First edition with a quote from Virgilia Peterson | |
| Author | Betty Friedan |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Feminism |
| Publisher | W. W. Norton |
Publication date | February 19, 1963[1] |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 239 |
| ISBN | 0-393-32257-2 |
The Feminine Mystique is a book by American author Betty Friedan, widely credited with sparking second-wave feminism in the United States.[2] First published by W. W. Norton on February 19, 1963, The Feminine Mystique became a bestseller, initially selling over a million copies.[3][4] Friedan used the book to challenge the widely shared belief that "fulfillment as a woman had only one definition for American women after 1949—the housewife-mother."[4]
In 1957, Friedan was asked to conduct a survey of her former Smith College classmates for their 15th anniversary reunion; the results, in which she found that many of them were unhappy with their lives as housewives, prompted her to begin research for The Feminine Mystique, conducting interviews with other suburban housewives, as well as researching psychology, media, and advertising. She originally intended to create an article on the topic, not a book, but no magazine would publish the work.[5][6]
The phrase "feminine mystique" was coined by Friedan to describe the assumptions that women would be fulfilled from their housework, marriage, sexual lives, and children. The prevailing belief was that women who were truly feminine should not want to work, get an education, or have political opinions. Friedan wanted to prove that women were unsatisfied and could not voice their feelings.[7]
- ^ Addison, Heather; Goodwin-Kelly, Mary Kate; Roth, Elaine (2009). Motherhood misconceived: representing the maternal in U.S. film. SUNY Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-4384-2812-3.
- ^ Margalit Fox (5 February 2006). "Betty Friedan, Who Ignited Cause in 'Feminine Mystique,' Dies at 85". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
- ^ Coontz, Stephanie (2011). A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s. New York: Basic Books. pp. 145–149.
- ^ a b Friedan, Betty (2013). The Feminine Mystique. W.W.Norton & Company, Inc. pp. xi–xx. ISBN 978-0-393-93465-6.
- ^ "Betty Friedan - Obituaries, News". The Independent. 7 February 2006. Retrieved 2011-02-18.[dead link]
- ^ Patricia Sullivan (February 5, 2006). "Voice of Feminism's 'Second Wave'". Washington Post. p. 2. Retrieved 2011-02-18.
- ^ "The Feminine Mystique | work by Friedan". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-06-03.
Previous Page Next Page
