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heaether's review against another edition
1.0
betty friedan you and your theories anger me, and they never applied to working class women.
ellakicior's review against another edition
5.0
Reading this in 2024 hits different. I have had this on my tbr list forever and finally got around to it. Coming into it, I had heard it was outdated but still “important”. But what I was not expecting was how culturally relevant much of it still is. I don’t know if this is a spoiler to say but basically the feminine mystique or “problem that has no name” can be summed up as an identity crisis where women who’s whole identity is centered around other people become depressed because they are not playing a formative role in their own lives. Marrying and having kids young can interrupt one’s personal development when they aren’t encouraged to form an individual identity outside of the home. With the trad wife trend happening now, I felt this was a much more poignant read that after 60 years we still haven’t seemed to fully digest exactly what Betty Friedan was warning us about.
morgantw's review against another edition
I learned about this book and its impact in my Women and Gender Studies class in college and wish I’d left it at that. Some of it was interesting hearing about how women had started working outside the home and getting college educations but then there was a cultural shift to putting emphasis on being housewives once again. Overall though it’s very outdated in its narrow focus, the way it talks about homosexuality and finally what made me instantly just give up on it despite how far I had pushed through was the comparison of being a housewife to the concentration camps during WWII.
Glad it had a positive impact at the time but not something I recommend reading in 2025.
Glad it had a positive impact at the time but not something I recommend reading in 2025.
schmeedlyboi's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
Some details are dated but the core messaging is still relevant today, over 60 years later, especially with the rise of tradwife content on social media. The contents of this book are still a perfect rebuttal to the idealized vision of a traditional housewife and stay-at-home mother so many men (and some women) today think they want.
carrieives's review against another edition
1.0
Didn't finish. It's a hard read with lots of repetition.
shafelin's review against another edition
4.0
Wow!
I know I’m about 50 plus years late, but this is well worth the read! Even as a millennial I still feel many of these things that Friedan addresses throughout her books. Everyone should take the time to read this.
I know I’m about 50 plus years late, but this is well worth the read! Even as a millennial I still feel many of these things that Friedan addresses throughout her books. Everyone should take the time to read this.