Betty friedan biography book

Bettye Naomi Goldstein was born on February 4, in Peoria, Illinois, the oldest of three children of Harry Goldstein, a Russian immigrant and jeweler, and Miriam Horowitz Goldstein, a Hungarian immigrant who worked as a journalist until Bettye was born. A summa cum laude psychology graduate of Smith College in , Friedan spent a year on a graduate fellowship to train as a psychologist at the University of California Berkeley.

She left the graduate program after a year to move to New York, where she spent three years as a reporter for the Federated Press. Her politics increasingly moved toward the left, as Friedan became involved with various labor and union issues. In , Friedan married Carl Friedan, a would-be theater producer and advertising maven. Friedan had three children — in , , and — continuing to work throughout.

Friedan also began the research for what would become The Feminine Mystique in the late s.

Betty friedan biography book: Judith Hennessee presents feminist icon Betty

After conducting a survey of her Smith classmates at a year reunion, Friedan found that most were, as she was, dissatisfied with the limited world of suburban housewives. Published in , The Feminine Mystique hit a nerve, becoming an instant best-seller that continues to be regarded as one of the most influential nonfiction books of the 20 th century.

In , Friedan joined forces with Pauli Murray and Aileen Hernandez to found the National Organization for Women which remains a leading feminist organization , with Friedan as its first president. Specifically, NOW successfully sought to end the long-standing practice of sex-segregated help wanted advertising. Through these organizations, Friedan was influential in changing outdated laws such as unfair hiring practices, gender pay inequality, and pregnancy discrimination.