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Birth of Betty
Betty Friedan was born as Betty Naomi Goldstein in Peoria, Illinois on February 4th, 1921. -
Losing Employment to a Man
In 1945 Betty Friedan lost an established job to a man who had recently gotten out of prison. Even though the Federated Press did eventually rehire her, this event was the first to really make her consider that society valued men more than women in the workplace. -
Betty and Marriage
Betty married Carl Friedan in 1947 to later divorce in 1969 after a tumultuous relationship. -
Motherhood and the Workplace
In 1952 Betty gave birth to her second child, and instead of offering her maternity leave, her place of employment fired her and thus began her life as a homemaker and women's magazine writer. This would give her insight later at a class reunion after reuniting with her old classmates and seeing that they were as unfulfilled as she was. -
Revelation
In 1957 Betty attended the 15th reunion with the women from Smith College. Here she saw some of the most well educated women she had ever known all become homemakers and after administering a brief survey to them she discovered that they were mostly all dissatisfied with their lives. Even though the results were from a small sample of women, she assumed that this applied to women across the country. This moved her to write her first book The Feminine Mystique (1963). -
The Birth of NOW
In 1966 Betty joined with Pauli Murray and Mary Eastwood in creating the National Organization for Women (NOW). This was a huge part of the second wave of feminism, promoting the advocation of several issues important for women's rights and creating more political support in facing these issues. This kept women's rights in the light for the public to keep thinking on and paying attention to, leading to policy changes. -
Reference
Pierce, J. (2022). Betty Friedan and the women's movement. Bill of Rights Institute. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/betty-friedan-and-the-womens-movement