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Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan was a very known activist, writer, and co-founder of important organizations in fight for women in the United States. She was born in 1921 in Peoria, Illinois. She was the oldest of 3 children in her household and would soon become a worldwide looked upon activist. -
1957
Friedan eventually got married in 1947 to Carl Friedan which lead to her having 3 children. Friedan quickly became a housewife but continued to advocate for women’s issues by freelance writing for women’s magazines. Tired of this “housewife” concept she decided to conduct a survey with classmates at a class reunion where she found most were also dissatisfied with their role. She spent 5 years doing interviews with different women around the country which started her book idea. -
The feminine mystique
Betty spent 5 years interviewing, researching, and analyzing different responses she got in these interviews she conducted. She produced a book called “The feminine mystique book”. The book instantly became a best seller most influential nonfiction book of the 20th century. The book helped transform public awareness on the whole idea all these women were feeling. The book caused instant change for women to come together and make a change in their lives and leadership from inspiration. -
National organization for women
In this year Friedan was well known and very active when it came to her role in pushing this message. She joined forces with Pauli Murray and Aileen Hernandez to lead the national organization for women. Friedan was the organizations first president and also authored the organization mission statement “to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercise all of the privileges and...”. Their first action was equal employment opportunity commission. -
Changing laws through organizations
In 1971 Friedan was a cofounder of the national women’s political caucus along with the help of Bella Abzug, Gloria Steinem, and Shirley Chisholm. With the help of these organizations Friedan was a big influence on changing laws that were outdated like unfair hiring practices, gender pay inequality, and discrimination with pregnant women.