When one begins to think about it, America depends rather heavily on women's passive dependence, their femininity. Femininity, if one still wants to call it that, makes American women a target and a victim of the sexual sell.
Betty FriedanRead
Men weren't really the enemy - they were fellow victims suffering from an outmoded masculine mystique that made them feel unnecessarily inadequate when there were no bears to kill.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights that men, shaped by outdated societal expectations, are also victims of the pressures of masculinity.
Betty Friedan's quote examines the idea that men are often portrayed as aggressors or enemies, yet they too are victims of a restrictive societal construct known as the 'masculine mystique.' This concept pressures men to conform to an outdated definition of masculinity that emphasizes strength and dominance, leaving them feeling inadequate and trapped when such expectations are unrealistic or irrelevant, especially in a modern context where traditional roles are evolving.
Themes
MasculinitySocietal ExpectationsVictimInadequacyFeminism
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about gender roles during a seminar.
More from Betty Friedan
All quotes βOver and over again, stories in women's magazines insist that women can know fulfillment only at the moment of giving birth to a child. They deny the years when she can no longer look forward to giving birth, even if she repeats the act over and over again. In the feminine mystique, there is no other way for a woman to dream of creation or of the future. There is no other way she can even dream about herself, except as her children's mother, her husband's wife.
Betty FriedanRead
Advice? I don't offer advice. Not my business. Your life is what you make it.
Betty FriedanRead
We need to see men and women as equal partners, but it's hard to think of movies that do that. When I talk to people, they think of movies of forty-five years ago! Hepburn and Tracy!
Betty FriedanRead
No woman gets an orgasm from shining the kitchen floor.
Betty FriedanRead
It is easier to live through someone else than to complete yourself. The freedom to lead and plan your own life is frightening if you have never faced it before. It is frightening when a woman finally realizes that there is no answer to the question 'who am I' except the voice inside herself.
Betty FriedanRead
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