Customer Reviews

Betty Friedan: Her Life

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Twenty-eight years ago, the work of Betty Friedan changed forever, my view of my role as a woman in society. Reading Hennessee's well-researched and balanced account of Betty's life and times, allowed me to reconnect with a special time and era to all women (at least white, middle class women!) It is fascinating to know Betty with all her contradictions exposed; her feelings of being marginalized and excluded, her need for recognition and acknowledgement ( especially from men), and inability to connect with her own spirituality and aging. Equally amazing is the fact that Betty's Feminine Mystique took feminism mainstream, but failed to acknowledge patriarchy as the root cause of the unspoken dissatisfaction and yearning of American women. Also of interest are accounts of "behind the scenes" maneuvers at key events in the Feminist Movement, highlighing the rivalry between Friedan, Gloria Steinem, and others. One can only hope that both women and men are learning new ways of being and can move to behaviors embracing a partnership model rather than a dominator model as we approach the new millenium.

This is a disappointing biography of the Second Wave feminist pioneer, Betty Friedan. Its author spends so much time making insulting and belittling remarks about Friedan's behavior, clothing, relationships, lifestyle, etc., that the reader begins to wonder if it is a deliberate and underhanded attempt to discredit the feminist leader. The biographer apparently spent a great deal of time interviewing all of Friedan's past acquaintances, trying to cull out unpleasantries and dirty laundry. Everything negative that happens in Friedan's lifetime is blamed on personal shortcomings of Friedan. This is not a credible biography. Instead, I would suggest reading Friedan's own recent memoir of her life, _Life So Far_. Anyone who has read any of Friedan's books (_Feminine Mystique_, _It Changed My Life_, _Fountain of Age_) and been impressed with this great woman's strong voice for women's rights, and her extraordinarily powerful messages, will have difficulty with the negativity that mars this second rate book. I really don't understand why a biographer with so little empathy for her subject spent the time to write this book. Friedan herself is a marvelous writer, and she is misrepresented and underrated here.

Judith Hennessee presents feminist icon Betty Friedan in a truthful and intriguing light. Both the inspiring, history-making truth and the less glamorous personal side are presented with candor. This book has given me a much clearer view of a woman synonymous, but strangely at odds with, revolutionary female culture in America and beyond.