“The Feminine Mystique” Published (1963)

Tue Feb 19, 1963

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The Feminine Mystique, published on this day in 1963, is a book by Betty Friedan that is often credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States.

The next year, The Feminine Mystique was the number one non-fiction book in the U.S., selling over a million copies. The phrase “feminine mystique” was created by Friedan to illustrate the assumptions that women would be fulfilled from their housework, marriage, sexual lives, and children. Friedan sought to prove that housewives were unsatisfied but could not voice their feelings.

Despite the importance of the book in feminist history, it has faced numerous criticisms. According to Kirsten Fermaglich and Lisa Fine, “women of color - African American, Latina, Asian American and Native American women - were completely absent from Friedan’s vision, as were white working-class and poor women.”

Professor Lindsey Churchill wrote that bell hooks found Friedan’s manifesto both racist and classist, not at all applicable to African Americans and other working-class women who joined the labor force from necessity.

  • Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world
    21·
    1 year ago

    According to Kirsten Fermaglich and Lisa Fine, "women of color - African American, Latina, Asian American and Native American women - were completely absent from Friedan’s vision, as were white working-class and poor

    Yet feminism still has these problems 61 years later