Hidden beneath such events as the
Vietnam War and all the movements it sparked as well as the Civil Rights
movement, was the new feminist movement of the 1960s and 70s. This “Second
Wave” of feminism received it spark from a book written by Betty Friedan entitled
The Feminine Mystique. Even though
women’s struggle for equality continues to this day the social revolution that
begun in the 60s basically ended with the rise of the social conservatives of
the 1980s[1].
So how has the ideas of Friedan been embraced and effect women of today.
Friedan
in her book proclaimed that women of her era would ask themselves what she
referred to as “the silent question” about their lives “is this all?”[2]
The women of the 1950s and 60s, those whom Friedan was referring to in her
book, was told, “their role was to seek fulfillment as wives and mothers”[3],
to pity those “neurotic, unfeminine, unhappy women” who sought careers, and
life outside of that a housewife and mother[4].
Women of this era would forgo education and a career for that they were told
was their version of The American Dream, to become a suburban housewife. But
what if this wasn’t enough for some women what if they got had all that society
told them they wanted and needed and yet they still felt inadequate, what then?
Who would women turn to and tell that there is a problem with this ideal
existence when they didn’t even know what was wrong? “The Problem”[5],
as Friedan calls it is when a woman knew something was wrong but didn’t know
what, when they unsatisfied were others would be. However, these were problems
for women prior to the “Second Wave” of feminism and the revolution would
change all of these things.
Courtesy of thegreatkh.blogspot.com
courtesy of cognoscenti.wbur.org
In todays world, where inequality is
frowned upon and women at least on paper are equal to their male counterparts
the world in which Friedan talks about no longer applies. In a recent article
from The Washington Post entitled “Once again, feminists take up fight we
shouldn’t have” columnists Sally Quinn takes up the argument. Quinn in her
article talks about how feminists now fight among themselves about what the
progress for women really look like, the issue of “work v. home”.[6] Quinn talks
about the stance Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer at Facebook, takes in
her new book “Lean In” and how this differs from what traditional feminist
taught. Sandberg feels as though men and women should split home responsibility
50/50 so that women can pursue their own careers outside the house. This line
of thinking goes against what more traditional feminist preached, the
sacrificing of a home life for a career. Quinn looks at how feminist such as Gloria
Steinem and Betty Friedan have argued over and struggled with this issue during
their lives. Steinem and Friedan went different direction in their social life;
Steinem “made it clear she wasn’t interested in marriage and children”[7]
while Friedan married and had children. This issue seeped into the lives of
middle class women in America as the struggled over whether to give “up chances
to marry and have children” to pursue a career or not.[8]
The feminist of the 1960s and 70s
opened many doors to women of later generation and because of their revolution
women of today have opportunities that those women only dreamt of. But there is
a new struggle an internal fight that all women must confront, which is how to
combine a home life with a career. Quinn says it best in the conclusion of her
article when she proclaims, “Women should live our own lives the way we want to
and respect those who live their lives differently.”[9]
[1] Robert Griffith, and Paula Baker, eds. Major
Problems in American History Since 1945. p. 280
[6] Sally Quinn. “Once Again, Feminists
Take up Fight We Shouldn’t Have.” The Washington Post, March 15, 2013
[7] Quinn. “Once Again, Feminists Take up
Fight We Shouldn’t Have.”
[8] Quinn. “Once Again, Feminists Take up
Fight We Shouldn’t Have.”
No comments:
Post a Comment