The Feminine Mystique (Penguin Modern Classics) [Paperback]

I first read `The Feminine Mystique' back in the 1970s when it was very popular and on re-reading it found it just as relevant now. The book explores the desire of many women in America in the 1950s and 1960s to become housewives and mothers rather than pursuing careers of their own. One of the main reasons for this trend could well have been a general reaction to the end of World War II. Women who had worked to help the war effort were now returning home and the men who had been fighting wanted nothing more than to relax in the comfort of domesticity and a settled home life.

The book seeks to examine the effects the trend had on the mental and physical health of women confined to the home and living vicarious lives through their husbands and children. Many became pale shadows of their former selves and resorted to drink or affairs with anyone and everyone. Research carried out at the time showed that women had fewer mental health problems if they had some outlet or interest of their own which took them away from their domestic environment. Some were in such a poor state mentally that they ended up being treated for depression as well as many minor ailments which may or may not have been psychosomatic. Obstetricians noticed that women who had their own careers and interests outside the home had far fewer physical and mental problems with childbirth than did women who were housewives and mothers with no other interest.

The author suggests that it is extremely bad mentally and physically to live the whole of your life through and for others and cites compelling research to back up her thesis. These women in many cases ended up resenting their families for curtailing their prospects. She also shows how stay at home mothers appeared to be producing children who were unable to develop into mature adults because they had mothers who had always taken care of everything for them. Children need to develop independence from their mothers if they are to lead their own lives. Mothers whose whole life is invested in their husbands and children feel they are nothing and have no role in life once their children are grown. Some keep on having babies in order to have a child still at home and dependent on them.

The book is a powerful argument for every woman to have an interest which she is enthusiastic about outside her domestic life even if it is not practical for her to have a job. Even though this book was written about the situation in the USA in the 1950s and 1960s it is possible to see similarities in Britain and America today in the 21st century. We have the same glorification of domesticity and the constant stream of articles in the media about stay at home mothers being better for children and mothers with young children are branded selfish if they go out to work. There is also the same sexualisation of culture which was starting to take place then and has become even greater now. Making a home and bringing up children has been elevated to an art form instead of being seen as work which has to be done but does not need to be carried out to such a high standard. This is how it was when Friedan was writing. As she pointed out, most household tasks could be carried out by a child of eight and yet adult women - often educated to university standard - are expected to find total personal fulfilment in such work.

This is well written book which repays careful study.

I read this for a class I did at uni on the American women's movement and it is utterly amazing. What is so astonishing - and if you're buying this for uni my lecturer gave me an A for this point - this is the first book that really trated men and women as equal. Friedan is the first person who ever really questioned the idea that women and men are so different and that their lives should be dictated by those differences. Friedan sees women and men as being equal in opportunity, and this is what makes this book so groundbreaking. She doesn't tell women to go out and live like men, or to give up 'womanly' things like children or marriage, but instead she is saying there is no 'natural' reason for that. Women and men can do exactly as each other can and create their own lives - unlike the prevailing thought that we still see today, that your gender defines what your life will be. This is so incredible to read I think anyone who geets the chance should.

Excellent seminal work, important to go back to the classics and take on board what has changed and more importantly what is still frustrating and unchanged.