Jone+Johnson+Lewis

Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Betty Friedan Quotes." //About Women's History//. Web. Fall 2010. . “Betty Friedan, author of //The Feminine Mystique//, helped begin a new interest in women's rights, debunking the myth that all middle-class women were happy in the homemaker role.” “In 1966, Betty Friedan was one of the key founders of the National Organization for Women (NOW). ”

“’A woman is handicapped by her sex, and handicaps society, either by slavishly copying the pattern of man's advance in the professions, or by refusing to compete with man at all. ’”

“’The only way for a woman, as for a man, to find herself, to know herself as a person, is by creative work of her own. There is no other way. ’”

“’Man is not the enemy here, but the fellow victim. ’”

“’When she stopped conforming to the conventional picture of femininity she finally began to enjoy being a woman. ’”

“’The feminine mystique has succeeded in burying millions of American women alive. ’”

“’The only kind of work which permits an able woman to realize her abilities fully, to achieve identity in society in a life plan that can encompass marriage and motherhood, is the kind that was forbidden by the feminine mystique, the lifelong commitment to an art or science, to politics or profession. ’”

“’It is easier to live through someone else than to become complete yourself. ’”

“’A girl should not expect special privileges because of her sex but neither should she adjust to prejudice and discrimination. ’”

“’The problem that has no name — which is simply the fact that American women are kept from growing to their full human capacities — is taking a far greater toll on the physical and mental health of our country than any known disease.’” “’Each suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffered Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night — she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question — "Is this all?"’” “’Men weren't really the enemy -- they were fellow victims suffering from an outmoded masculine mystique that made them feel unnecessarily inadequate when there were no bears to kill.’” “’Strange new problems are being reported in the growing generations of children whose mothers were always there, driving them around, helping them with their homework - an inability to endure pain or discipline or pursue any self-sustained goal of any sort, a devastating boredom with life.’” “’ If divorce has increased by one thousand percent, don't blame the women's movement. Blame the obsolete sex roles on which our marriages were based.’” “’It's a different stage of life, and if you are going to pretend it's youth, you are going to miss it. You are going to miss the surprises, the possibilities, and the evolution that we are just beginning to know about because there are n role models and there are no guideposts and there are no signs.’”