-
Birth
Bettye Naomi Goldstein was born on February 4th of 1921 in Peoria, Illinois. She is the oldest of three to Harry and Miriam Goldstein, both of whom are immigrants. -
College Graduation
Friedan graduates summa cum laude in Psychology from Smith College, and furthered her education by spending a year on a graduate fellowship to train as a psychology at UC Berkeley. She also dropped the "e" from her name, Bettye to Betty. -
World War II
As World War II continued, Friedan became involved in several political issues and left her graduate program to move to New York where she spent three years as a reported for the Federated Press. She took on many other positions that included being a writer for the UE News, the media organ for the United Electric, Radio, and Machine Workers of American. Her views began to lean towards the left as she became more and more involved in politics. -
Marriage
Friedan meets Carl Friedan and they get married. They have three kids, the first born a year following their marriage, another in 1952, and the last in 1956. -
Freelance Writing Job
Along with creating a family, they relocate from Queens, NY to Rockland County where she becomes a housewife, supplementing the family's income with freelance writing for women's magazine. -
The Publishing of "The Feminine Mystique"
With all the time freelance writing, Betty conducted a study that would provide research for her book, "The Feminine Mystique." The study brought Betty to the conclusion that most women were dissatisfied with the limited world of suburban wives.
The publishing of the nonfiction book became an instant best-seller and was extremely influential, while also hitting a nerve in others. -
National Organization for Women
Betty's book created such an uproar and brought public awareness to many women which then brought them into the vanguard of the women's movement.
Betty teamed with Pauli Murray and Aileen Hernandez to found the National Organization for Women with Betty as the first president. The NOW's mission statement was as stated, "to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all the privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men." -
Pro-Choice America
Betty helped found the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws which was then renamed the National Abortion Rights Action League and more recently, NARAL Pro-choice America. -
Women's Strike for Equality
Friedan organized the Women's Strike for Equality in honor of their 50th anniversary of women's suffrage to raise awareness about gender discrimination. -
Organization After Organization
Friedan became co-founder of the National Women's Political Caucus with Congresswoman Bella Abzug, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, and feminist Gloria Steinam. With all these organizations, Friedan was influential in changing outdated laws such as unfair hiring practices, gender pay inequality, and pregnancy discrimination. -
Advocate, But For Who?
Throughout the 1970s, Friedan was not the only one with a voice and soon after her efforts, many more and diverse voices emerged within the women's movement. Many criticized Friedan to be focusing on issues faced primarily by white, middle-classes, educated, heterosexual women. -
Publishing of "The Second Stage"
In 1981, Friedan published another writing of hers titled, "The Second Stage," which sought to help those women who are struggling with the demands of work and home. This book shows a different view from her earlier work. -
Died at age 85
Betty Friedan dies at the age of 85 in 2006 due to congestive heart failure. Before her death, and since the 1970s, she published several books, taught at NYU and the University of Southern California. She lectured widely at women's conferences around the world.