Sunday Sermonette: Betty Friedan

Two quotes from the late, great Betty Friedan:

“The problem that has no name - which is simply the fact that American women are kept from growing to their full human capacities - is taking a far greater toll on the physical and mental health of our country than any known disease”

"The glorification of the "'woman's role," then, seems to be in proportion to society's reluctance to treat women as complete human beings; for the less real function that role has, the more it is decorated with meaningless details to conceal its emptiness.”

Comments

[dan]

friggin' empt.

[Julian Elson]

It reminds me of something from the last few pages from Buchi Emecheta's Joys of Motherhood. There's some anonymous Nigerian cab driver who says something like, "you women get all the glory of being mothers, and never let us men get any credit," half-jokingly, after the main character has gone through a wretched forced marriage and borne about ten children (I forgot the exact number), etc, etc.

[ghostcatbce]

That there are still people who think a woman's ultimate goal should still be motherhood, is a testament to how far ahead of her time Fridan was.