By examining the idea of women achieving personal fulfillment outside of their established roles, Betty Friedan (1921-2006) broke new ground with her book The Feminine Mystique (1963). As one of the founders of the National Organization for Women, it also contributed to promoting the women’s rights movement. In the political process, she promoted an enlarged role for women and is seen as a pioneer for feminism and the campaigns for women’s rights. Betty Friedan is a bright student and was awarded a Bachelor’s degree from Smith College in 1942. Although she obtained a bursary from California University, she chose to go to work as a journalist in New York instead. Friedan had three children and was married in 1947. According to the Christian Science Monitor, she returned to work following the birth of her first child but lost her job when she was pregnant with her second. Then Friedan was home for her family to look after. But as a homemaker, she was restless and wondered whether other women felt like her. Friedan examined other graduates of Smith College to answer this question. The findings were the basis of The Feminine Mystique. The book has become a sensation — a social revolution that has dissipated the notion that all women aspire to be happy homemakers.
Friedan pushed women to search for new opportunities. Betty Friedan has more to say in terms of limiting gender stereotypes as an icon in the women’s rights movement—she has become a force for change. In 1966, she co-founds and acts as its first chairman the National Women’s Organization (NOW). Furthermore, in 1969, Friedan battled to secure abortion rights by creating an Abortion Law Abrogation Association (now known as NARAL Pro-Choice America). She wanted the role of women in the political process to be higher. Friedan helped establish the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971 with other major feminists, including Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug. The second stage was released in 1982 by Betty Friedan to encourage women to cope with the needs of their work and their homes. The feminist perspective seemed more modest than her previous efforts. In the 1970s, Friedan examined a woman’s existence at the Fountain of Age in the later phases of (1993). On 4 February 2006, Betty Friedan died in Washington D.C. of heart defects. One of the prominent voices of the 20th-century feminist and women’s rights movement. And the work she began is still carried out by the three organizations she contributed to set up today.