Betty Friedan Writes "The Feminine Mystique"

In 1963, Betty Friedan published 'The Feminine Mystique,' a book examining the dissatisfaction many American women felt within the confines of domestic life. Drawing in part on a survey of her own college classmates, Friedan described what she called 'the problem that has no name,' the unfulfilled longing of educated women who had been encouraged to find their identity solely as wives and mothers. The book challenged the prevailing assumption that homemaking alone could satisfy women.

Friedan urged women to throw off this traditional dependence on men and to pursue independent roles as wage earners and professionals. 'The Feminine Mystique' became a bestseller and is widely credited with helping spark the second-wave feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s. In 1966, Friedan went on to co-found the National Organization for Women, which campaigned for legal and economic equality, making her one of the most influential figures in modern American feminism.