Today, we say goodbye to yet another feminist who paved the way for all of us. (Although, like many of her contemporaries, she must have been horrified to witness the anti-feminist movement flare up again towards the end of her life.)
Betty Friedan died at home in Washington on Saturday, February 4th – her 85th birthday. The most important item on her feminist resumé was almost certainly the 1963 book “The Feminine Mystique”, in which she helped explain to the world that the notion of a woman’s main purpose in life being that of a wife and mother was not some law of nature, but simply a big, fat lie created by society.
I am eternally thankful to Friedan for having had the courage to speak out on these issues at a time when this was revolutionary and must have involved great personal risk. Her life and work are to be celebrated, and I rejoice in the fact that the world was blessed with this brilliant, clear-headed lady. At the same time, I am saddened – deeply, deeply saddened – by the ease with which the 21st century is turning its back on the efforts by Friedan and her kinsfolk.
The idea that women are somehow, by the very same “mystique” that Friedan spoke of, predestined to put their roles as wives and mothers before any others is rampant in today’s Western society. While in Friedan’s day, tradition was considered sufficient as a reason, today’s argument in a world of crumbling traditions is biology. Hormones, nervous systems, inherited “instincts” or all of the above and more are quoted as mumbo-jumbo “reasons” for women’s lasting legacy as home makers first and wage earners second.
Why? Why?!! I struggle to find an answer. While I, in true Generation X fashion, manage to stay aloof and blasé about many upsetting things, this is one of the horrible stains on our society that I can but hang my head and cry about. Having once myself been a victim of the myth of femininity, it is all the more poignant to me that for each step forward Friedan and her contemporaries took, we have taken a considerable step back.
Let’s just feel confident that Betty Friedan – also the founder and first president of the National Organization for Women in 1966 – knew in her heart that the work for which she helped lay the foundation will continue. There are enough of us out there, and we will never give up.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Feminism - whats all that about - have you not been able to find a good man - get yourself a life! - all this introverted twaddle - i assure you if you got yourself a better life you wouldn't think so much - have a couple of kids - then you'll be that busy you won't have time to feel so badly treated by the world
:-)
But what if it's a catch 22?Perhaps it's because I am an introverted twaddler that I didn't manage to find a good man to save me from all that depressing THINKING stuff, and instead got some freak who prefers his women avec brains?
I do have kids, though - a whole couple of them. I must be one helluva superwoman to manage to think AND change diapers simultaneously! You should try it some time! Thinking that is - diaper changing is overrated.
Post a Comment