.ltBetty Friedan

1921

In 1963 Betty Friedan's book, The Feminine Mystique, was published. It was to change lives. "As [the American suburban wife] made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slip cover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches, 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?' " This "problem that has no name", as she called it, struck a chord with many women at that time. In 1966 she formed the National Organisation of Women to promote women's rights and in 1970 they called for the women of America to go on strike. "Don't iron while the strike is hot!" was the cry. In 1981, in The Second Stage, she wrote: "Today the problem that has no name, is how to juggle work, love, home and children."

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.llWomen's lib: American lib
Women's lib: Feminism today
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WR09:WR09_04S
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