1st Edition

An Analysis of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique

By Elizabeth Whitaker Copyright 2017
128 Pages
by Macat Library

128 Pages
by Macat Library

118 Pages
by Macat Library

Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique is possibly the best-selling of all the titles analysed in the Macat library, and arguably one of the most important. Yet it was the product of an apparently minor, meaningless assignment. Undertaking to approach former classmates who had attended Smith College with her, 10 years after their graduation, the high-achieving Friedan was astonished to... Read more

Ways in to the text 

Who was Betty Friedan? 

What does The Feminine Mystique Say? 

Why does The Feminine Mystique Matter? 

Section 1: Influences 

Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context 

Module 2: Academic Context 

Module 3: The Problem 

Module 4: The Author's Contribution 

Section 2: Ideas 

Module 5: Main Ideas 

Module 6: Secondary Ideas 

Module 7: Achievement 

Module 8: Place in the Author's Work 

Section 3: Impact 

Module 9: The First Responses 

Module 10: The Evolving Debate 

Module 11: Impact and Influence Today 

Module 12: Where Next? 

Glossary of Terms 

People Mentioned in the Text 

Works Cited

Biography

Dr Elizabeth Whitaker holds a PhD in anthropology from Emory University. She has taught at several American universities and is currently a senior lecturer at the Università degli Studi di Bologna, Italy. In addition to a forthcoming book on anthropology for a general audience, she is the author of Measuring Mamma’s Milk: Fascism and the Medicalization of Maternity in Italy (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000).