Betty Frieden 1921-2006

Question 1

Book:

Answer 1

The Feminine Mystique 1963

Question 2

views on individuals

Answer 2

insisted all individuals should gain control over their lives to realise full potential. In her book she argued gender was a massive hindrance to female individuals.

Question 3

what condemned women to underachievement’s ?

Answer 3

illiberal attitudes in society rather than human nature that condemned women to underachievement.

Question 4

how were these attitudes cemented into soc?

Answer 4

these attitudes were nurtured and transmitted via societies various “ cultural channels”, notably schools, religion, the media and mainstream literature.

Question 5

what did these channels do to women/leave them questioning?

Answer 5

channels of “cultural conditioning” left women convinced that their lot in life was determined by human nature rather than their own rationality and enterprise. She sought to challenge the “irrational” assumption.

Question 6

How did she think progress should be brought about?

Answer 6

she disdained violence or illegality as a means of bringing about change. She argued significant progress was possible via legal equality, brought about by the proceedings of a liberal state.

Question 7

what feminist argument did she reject?

Answer 7

she rejected the more radical feminist argument that the state was “patriarchal” and forever in the control of the dominant gender.