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Early Life
Betty Friedman was born Betty Naomi Goldstein in Peoria, Illinois. She studied Psychology at Smith College before her fellowship at Berkeley. Later, she worked as a journalist for several media publications in New York. She eventually married, had three children, and helped support her family by writing freelance pieces in women's magazines. This part of her life was no doubt an inspiration for her book. -
Interviews of Women
Freidan spent five years interviewing middle-class, white women about their suburban lifestyles. She found that many women were unsatisfied with their quality of life. Many women shared the desire to pursue their interests outside the home but were limited by the expectations of women and mothers of the time. -
Publication of the The Feminine Mystique
One of the most influential books of its time, The Feminine Mystique was the first book to chronicle the tribulation of so many women. The book describes "the problem with no name" that women were expected to find fulfillment in domestic duties and child-rearing. The book has become an essential feminist text credited with initiating the second wave of feminism. -
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Activism
Betty Friedman became a devoted women's rights advocate in the '60s and '70s. She founded multiple women's rights organizations including the National Women's Organization, the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, and (my favorite) the National Women's Political Caucus. Through these organizations, she laid the important groundwork for the rights women enjoy today. -
Women's Strike for Equality
Betty Friedan was one of the organizers of the Women's Strike for Equality of 1970. The goal of the march was to raise awareness about the discrimination that women face in the workplace. -
National Women's Political Caucus
Alongside female activists like Gloria Steinem and Shirley Chisholm, Betty Friedman founded the National Women's Political Caucus to advance the political interests of women in the United States. -
Death
Betty Friedman passed away in Washington D.C. of congestive heart failure.