â ď¸âLong Post Warningââ ď¸
For Womenâs History Month, I read the Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. https://d-pdf.com/book/5244/read
What was most striking to me was how little has changed in the sixty years since the book was published (1963). Other things I read were frightening in how theyâve gotten worse! I want to share the parallels between what Friedan was writing about in her own time and whatâs currently happening in the world today.Â
-In chapter two and some further comments in the epilogue (which comes from a later edition of the book as there are details of events in 1970), is how the media wants to constrict women to âone passion, one role, one passionâ which is: housewife. The current manosphere consisting of blogs, YouTubers, and the such is the most vocal on pushing this ideology on women. Occasionally, it does reach the mainstream. Not that long ago, there was widespread concern from educators about the young boys who watched the creator Andrew Tate and his influence upon them. Despite Tate having been arrested, this hasnât dampened the spread of his misogynistic views. There are still plenty of other YouTube channels, Twitter accounts, and more parroting the dangerous ideas.Â
-Chapter four touches on the âtrend of some women clinging to the âold image of glorified femininity.ââ For today this certainly would be the infamous posts found under the âtradwifeâ tags on platforms such as TikTok, Tumblr, or YouTube. Connected to this is how some of these tradwife women who reject feminism say they are the way they are because they see only the sensationalized versions of radical feminism which portrays all feminists as man-haters. Using the same rhetoric as anti-feminists back in the 60âs.Â
-An issue then and still an issue now is how the American workforce is very uncompromising towards women who are pregnant, recently haven given birth, or have small children. The persisting problem for women who want to get married and have children in extremely demanding careers still need to make a choice between the two. Itâs very difficult for a researcher in a lab to take time off for maternity leave and then jump back into their work.Â
Letâs take a moment with this quote: âBecause the race to get ahead, in the big organization, in every profession in America, is so terribly competitive for men, competition from women is somehow the last straw.â This is talking about keeping women out of the workforce or out of positions of power. While now Title VII is enforced and anyone regardless of sex, religion, race, and national origin can easily find paid work, yet even today the glass ceiling is a well-known phenomenon. This competition has resulted in what some call a full out gender war in South Korea. Men there are frustrated that they must now compete with women for employment. This has led to the 4B counter-movement by South Korean feminist women. This is a good time to mention that this isnât an American only dilemma, and that it spans the entire globe.
-Perhaps many donât know, but I was engaged to a man here in Japan. Obviously, we did not end up getting married. I would say he was anti-intellectual in general, despite him being quite intelligent, being fluent in English and managing a popular YouTube channel all by himself. He told me he believes that education is useless, but especially for women. He was one of those concerned about the declining birth rate in Japan and blamed it on educated women. Echoing the sentiment of the men in Friedanâs time. The sad thing is that, I know there are more men out there who hold the same belief. More so concerning is that those men are in powerful positions in the government running the country. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/05/japans-deputy-pm-blames-women-for-nations-falling-population
What scares me in what has gotten worse since the book was published is how much a house costs has grown. She mentions that a split level ranch in the suburbs used to be $14,990 to $54,990. A quick glance at Zillow or any other popular real estate site shows that a split level ranch in the suburbs would be well over $200,000-$500,000 today. There are other points brought up by Friedan about the ill effects of capitalism and the consumer society we live in that still plague people today, but I want this post to focus more on womenâs issues.Â
-Abortion rights being stripped away from women in America is the other thing that horrifies me. Friedan says the right to abortion is one of the critically vital things in maintaining womenâs independence and autonomy.Â
-Hindsight makes Friedanâs prediction of âBy 1976, I predict, even the Republicans will have a woman running seriously for vice-president, if not for presidentâ come off as overly optimistic. It wasnât until 2020 did America finally have its first female vice-president and she is a part of the Democratic party.Â
I am so grateful for the thousands of women who came before me and fought for all these rights I can enjoy. But the feminists' fight for equal rights for all is not over.
Not mentioned in her book, but still an issue that continues on is equal pay. https://www.npr.org/2024/03/12/1237505064/equal-pay-day-women-gender-pay-gap
As well as violence against women which has been a global dilemma that has been around probably even before written history.
Happy Womenâs History Month! âď¸