Posted on 02/09/2006 12:55:25 PM PST by tbird5
Betty Friedan, who died this weekend aged 85, was widely considered to be the founder of modern feminism. Was she really as pivotal as she thought she was, asks Germaine Greer
Betty Friedan "changed the course of human history almost single-handedly". Her ex-husband, Carl Friedan, believes this; Betty believed it too. This belief was the key to a good deal of Betty's behaviour; she would become breathless with outrage if she didn't get the deference she thought she deserved. Though her behaviour was often tiresome, I figured that she had a point. Women don't get the respect they deserve unless they are wielding male-shaped power; if they represent women they will be called "love" and expected to clear up after themselves. Betty wanted to change that for ever. She wanted women to be a force to be reckoned with, and yet she let Carl Friedan have all the income from The Feminine Mystique. Or so she told me, sotto voce, in 1971. Something to do with community property, I guess. She was not yet divorced from him then.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
barf
"wielding male-shaped power.."
She tore off her husband's.....
Changed the course of human history ping!!
Too much! ROFLMAO!
The one in the post was a card carrying Communist.
Betty was disconcerted by lesbianism, leery of abortion and ultimately concerned for the men whose ancient privileges she feared were being eroded.
Really?
Which of the three would you rather put your "loose lips" on?
Make your choice quickly, it's coming upon dinner time.
Women had far more power in society before the feminist movement.
As wives they were cherished and supported by their husbands who worked to supply the income they spent.
Women formed the backbone of civilization and society. They set the standards.
Men sacrificed their lives for their wives and mothers.
The feminist movement was about women who did not want to be wives or mothers, or feared they would not be able to attract and keep a man to do their bidding.
Bettie Page was a communist?
"I also spent considerable time talking to my brother regarding our Betty Friedan memories. Betty Friedan was a close friend of my parents, a neighbor, and a fixture in our young childhood.
My immediate thought on reading of Betty's death was that she NEVER thanked the legions of friends, all STRONG,INTELLIGENT WOMEN who supported her, in so many ways, while she wrote the Feminine Mystique up in the garret of her Victorian home. It was my mother, an incredibly strong and intelligent woman, who washed ALL the dishes in the kitchen when she dropped Betty's daughter off after picking her up from school. It was my Mom who washed all the dirty linens and cooked the meals when we went to visit the Friedans on Fire Island for a weekend. It was my Mom who soothed/smoothed over many of the sometimes VIOLENT, sometimes drunken fights (I was witness to one or two as a child) between Betty and her husband.
As a result, regretably, I admit that I have NOT read the Feminine Mystique, though now may be the time. Truth is, I never had the need . . . I grew up in a network of strong intelligent women . . . who were loving and caring and determined. Yes, they were housewives, but they were politically active, volunteered for schools, and charities, etc. I don't believe they wer unfulfilled . . . they were "do-ers". There were the ones that got things done.
Funny . . . I never considered Betty a role model, though she did incredible things for women.
Okay, sorry. I just had to say these things somewhere."
Betty Page is MUCH more like it!
Somebody comissioned her to write that book. I figure it was someone from the labor department who wanted to grow the economy. I have always said that women's lib was a man's idea.
Now we're talking capital P - Power
I still say, GOOD RIDDANCE.
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