The Feminine Mystique (Laurel Book)

Rating:
Summary: We're not done yet
Review: As a 19 year old female, I am fascinated by this book. I can now better appreciate the struggles of my grandmothers: both struggled with depression until they finally left the house and got a job. One was an R.N., and the other an interior decorator. This book reminds of the modern-day yuppie housewife who drives her SUV and lives vicariously through her children while Oprah tells her that she has the most important "job" and will avoid becoming depressed if she remembers her spirit each day. I believe that a woman CAN have both a family and a career. After all, men do. My mother has stayed home and worked, and as a kid, I prefer for her to work. She's happier, she's productive, and far less cranky. Freidan's book has shown me that I have every right to fulfll my potential as I start college, and show to younger girls that you don't go to college for your MRS. degree. I refuse to teach future generations of girls that they must choose between career and family. The Feminine Mystique should be read by every woman. Thank God we have come as far as we have, and so much of that credit belongs to Freiden herself.

Rating:
Summary: worth reading; worth judging
Review: I have to appreciate Friedan the same way I have to appreciate Freud or The Beatles: because, at the time, her ideas were, some might say, revolutionary.

Although Friedan makes many acute observations, from them she tends to draw irrational conclusions. As other reviewers have stated, her work could have easily been reduced to 3 or 4 chapters.

In the first half of her book, she whines that women (as mothers) have been unfairly blamed for the various psychological woes of mankind, referencing, among others, Mr. Freud. Subsequently, however, she uses these same references to conclude that indeed mothers ARE to blame for the conditions of society--even going so far as to cite her nemesis Freud in a disturbing passage about the evils of homosexuality.

While Friedan cites many studies (of her own, and of others) featuring America's downtrodden women, these studies feature exclusively MIDDLE and UPPER-CLASS women. As she is so diligently trying to prove that college-bound/educated women are being persuaded to accept the role of housewife in liu of a richer life, she completely overlooks the many women who do not have the option of going to college (or to a Freudian-biased psychologist, or to the suburbs...).

Because of the importance of this work IN ITS TIME, I must give it 3 stars and not 2. There is--hidden amongst the whinning, ranting, and contradicting--some good material here. It is worth reading, if only because it is worth judging.

Rating:
Summary: Poor, poor Ms. Betty Friedan
Review: I ran across an English-language copy of this book in Denmark. Not having many books with me to read at the time I picked it up. The content of this book is extremely dated, of course--she actually takes Freud seriously in some places--but as a look at the conditions that led to the start of the feminist movement and as an artifact of the time in which it was written it is fascinating--and more applicable than one might think. As I was reading it, a couple of friends and relatives came to mind who I thought might have benefited immensely from this book.

Rating:
Summary: "AWESOME"
Review: I thought this book was amazing. She not only presented great points, but they were well researched and thoughtful. I can't believe all the posted reviews that attempt to undermind Friedman's work. Those reviews must of been posted by scared little men.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as everyday acts of rebellion
Review: I was very disappointed. I am first the title everyone knows that only women possess true mystique, second there is no reference to rebellion. Otherwise very excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Poor form for an epic
Review: Many say this book brought about the revolution that made it easier for women to work outside the home, (of which I'm a large proponent)--a title which made me expect a highly moving and powerful book--yet when I began, and almost all the way through the book, it let me down. Ms. Friedan makes several good points, but then has the tendancy to draw them out pages and pages longer than they need go on (a group of my freinds who have also read this book agree with me that each chapter, minus quotes, could be reduced down to about a paragraph). She also has the tendancy to not say exactly the source of facts she has in her books. I often found myself reading something along the lines of "...and a very famous study showed..." without having a footnote, endnote, or any marks as to which study this so-called "famous study" is. Ms. Friedan is a very intelligent person, that much I do not deny, but she is not gifted with the ability to put things in their most succinct form. I wanted to give this book much less than 3 stars, but I couldn't, simply on the basis of what it is credited with doing. The book is very good in the way that it presents what were fairly radical ideas at the time it was published with a lot of vigor, but is one of those books where I found myself nodding off every paragraph or so and thinking after I got into a chapter "Didn't I just read this a few lines ago?" My bottom line is, if you want a book about femininity in the 60's and around that time period, read this book, but if you want a good book that deals just with real life struggles of a group of people, read W.E.B. Du Bois's "The Souls of Black Folks".

Rating:
Summary: no way
Review: oh my gosh - I can't even believe this

Rating:
Summary: ONE SIDED
Review: This book drags on and on until your just to the point will it ever end. One page she is talking about the housewife as having to much time on her hands and the other page she is so exausted at the end of the day because of all the work she does.It seems to mainly be directed to the rich or middle class stay at home mom if you donot fit that category then don't bother to read the book. Betty would like for us all to believe that the "american housewife" is or was every woman in america, and that simply is not so I know numerous women who only dream of staying at home for their husband and children not because they want the "good life" but because they want to be there for them. No matter how femininst put it being a wife and a mother is the first responsiblity of a woman career will always be second, if you don't believe that just look at all of the children now who stay in trouble or grow to live in trouble what is the one thing they blame it on, their childhood the way they were raised they say their moms or dads were never there for them. Mrs. Friedman puts women out that stay home with their families as the ignorant woman while the woman that chased her dream and forsake her family as the hero...hmm and we wonder what's wrong with America well read this book and you will see.

Rating:
Summary: Still scaring the men?
Review: This book truly expresses some valid and poignant issues and circumstances that effect hundreds of women each year in this country. However, it, like all books in its class, should NOT be applied to 'everyone'. Not every woman marries at 17 and gives up her life for her husband and 3.5 children. While it is fascinating (and probably had more validity in the 60's), and should be required reading in Psychology 201; I don't find it to be a 'harrowing triumph of the human spirit', as I have oft heard it described.

Rating:
Summary: All the Power to Us!
Review: This was a fabulous book! Up until now, I've considered myself a Feminist because I had written a paper on the Second Wave Feminist Movement and thought equality was a fine thing. I have a plaque on my wall that says: "Feminism is the Radical Notion that Women are People." This thought didn't really hit home, though, until I learned a bit about the First Wave Movement, when women weren't allowed any higher education or legal status. The resulting Feminist Movement had not been the vengeful outcry of man-haters, but the desperate plea to be regarded as human, worthy of rights like education and identity. The women had a particuliarly difficult time getting these ideas across because they weren't allowed to speak publically. I am saddened that, even today, in our so-called "enlightened era," the concept of Feminism, of association with that proud legacy, is looked upon with such contempt. Thank you, Ms. Friedan, for reminding me to take pride in my heritage as a woman of the world.