- Expressed to an extent, suburban women’s discontent with being a trophy, housewife.
- In the 50s and 60s worrying symptoms among a minority of women in suburbs were diagnosed, like depression, paranoia and as a result: alcoholism.
Betty Friedan called the loneliness and dissatisfaction that these women festered, ‘the problem that had no name.’
And that all women could ask themselves when faced with the reality of being a housewife, ‘Is this all?’
- However, before her book was released, she conducted a study in 1957 of her former college’s students.
89% of women that answered her study were now housewives.
- Some also said they were frustrated they couldn’t use their intellect in better ways and instead channelled their energy into voluntary work and party political activism.
- However, in her book she may have exaggerated the extent to which the college’s alumni were passive victims of the patriarchy.
- Most of the housewives which replied to the survey said they were the happiest they had ever been and had no desire to return to work.
Nevertheless, The Feminine Mystique stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 6 weeks and lay the groundwork for a feminist revolution.
