stickersdaa.blogg.se

I argue that although Friedan’s discussion of work was indeed elitist, the biggest problem with her book’s neglect of black women is that she missed the chance to show her white middle-class audience that some women were able to combine their identities as wives, mothers, family co-providers, and activists with interests beyond the home. Betty Friedan, the feminist crusader and author whose searing first book, 'The Feminine Mystique,' ignited the contemporary womens movement in 1963 and as a result permanently. And black leaders of both sexes had a long tradition of supporting women’s roles as co-providers for their families and as activist leaders of the community. But the upper middle-class wives and mothers who were least likely to have to work for financial necessity were already long before this was also true of white women the most likely to work, suggesting that something more than dire necessity was involved. Yes, many black wives and mothers had to work, and at jobs that were truly horrible. Some people have argued that black women would have loved to be homemakers, and that’s the weakness in Friedan’s defense of meaningful work for women.

Glaring omission, all the sadder because Friedan herself had led fights against segregated housing. Published in 1963, Betty Friedans powerful book, The Feminine Mystique, resonated with many American women of the era. Here, reissued with a new introduction, is the book that jump-started the modern womens movement, filled with ideas and inspiration as vital to women today.