Betty Friedan - Week 11

Betty Naomi Friedan was born in 1921 and died in 2006. She was an American Social Reformer and Feminist who went to the University of California in 1942. Her main claim to fame was the book she wrote in 1963 called "The Feminine Mystique" it attacked the theory that women could find fulfillment only through childbearing and homemaking. She challenged the ideal of which Betty herself was a suburban housewife who also wrote part time, that a womans role was to make beds, cook meals and serve her children and husband. This book made a huge impact on Society triggering change



She also wrote "It Changed my Life" all about the Women's Movement in 1976 and the Second Stage in 1981. She was one of the founders of the National Organization for Women in 1966, and played a big part in the struggle for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.


Betty was the co-founder of NOW (National Organisation for Women) that was establised in 1966 to support "full equality for women in America in a truly equal partnership with men". Through legislatvie lobbying, court litigation, and public demonstrations, NOW seeks to end sexual discrimination in employment.
She made a big push for paid maternity leave and for child care centres, also to change the laws to adoption.