Born: February 4, 1921, Peoria, Illinois, U.S.
Betty Naomi Friedan is an American feminist leader and author, born in Peoria, Illinois, and educated at Smith College. Her book The Feminine Mystique (1963) challenged several long-established American attitudes, especially the notion that women could find fulfillment only as wives and mothers. Friedan’s phrase “feminine mystique” refers to the idealization of the traditional female role (that of wife and mother); she contended that this idealization constituted a conspiracy to prevent women from competing with men.
In 1966, Friedan founded the National Organization for Women (NOW), devoted to the fight for equal rights for women. She served as the first president of NOW until 1970. Friedan helped organize the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971, the International Feminist Congress in 1973, and the First Women’s Bank in 1973. In addition to maintaining a political career, she has served as a lecturer and fellow in the academic community and continues to write on women’s issues. Among her other publications are It Changed My Life (1976), a journal of her years as a political campaigner; The Second Stage (1981), which discusses her developing view of feminism; The Fountain of Age (1993), in which she proposes innovative approaches to growing old; and a volume of memoirs, Life So Far (2000).
