Development of the feminist movement

Friedan sees changes taking place in American society in the period after World War II. The expectations placed on women by society were nothing new--women were expected to conform to a certain view of what was feminine and to subordinate themselves to their fathers, husbands, and children. Friedan sees a malaise developing in the female population in the late 1940s that would remain only that--a feeling, a sense of loss, a sense of denial--until the 1960s when it would be identified and given a name--the "feminine mystique," the feminine image placed on women by society. This image is confining and prevents women from seeking personal

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le of women in society and how that role has been enforced but also aspects of the feminist movement that developed and some of its consequences. Ehrenreich bases much of what she has to say on her original insight into the roles of men and women in society as she determines that women marry men because they are dependent on men economically. A man can make it on his own, but a woman is hard-pressed to do the same. Society views the matter this way: The man who failed to marry o stay married might be judged a little "odd"; the woman might well be poor. In the eyes of the middle-class, mid-century world, he had dodged a responsibility, while she had missed the boat (Ehrenreich 2). Family structure and the family wage system that is part of it assures that women have a greater stake in being married for economic reasons. Ehrenreich finds frightening the degree to which the continuation of society is dependent on the willingness of men to assume the role society has created for them by marrying and serving as the economic foundation of the family. Where Friedan is interested in examining the creation of the feminine mystique, or the image of woman as a feminine creature with a specific role in society and the family, Ehrenrei
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Approximate Word count = 2359
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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