Homework for tomorrow: Finish reading & annotating The Feminine Mystique chapter one. You will have a short on-demand writing tomorrow based on the text at the beginning of class.
Questions to prep for Thursday's Discussion
Part 1:
- What exactly IS the Feminine Mystique? What is Friedan’s reasoning for doing the research and writing this book?
- Through Friedan’s research, in what ways did “the problem that has no name” present itself in American women in the 50s/60s? In what ways did women attempt to remedy the problem? Would you say there has ever been a name to this problem, or would it still be considered a nameless problem now?
- How does equity between men and women play into Friedan’s era? (think: education, jobs, responsibilities, value)
- In the 1950s & 60s, what standards of femininity did women strive for, and what was seen as being “unfeminine?”
- “...the chains that bind her in her trap are chains in her own mind and spirit. They are chains made up of mistakes ideas and misinterpreted facts, of incomplete truths and unreal choices. They are not easily seen and not easily shaken off” (Friedan, 31). Where do these chains come from, what can break them, and who can or can not see them?
- How could having an informed feminist lense help potentially change how society treats, thinks, and acts toward women? (this question is a good one to pull from or connect MAKERS, hooks, Lerner, Friedan)
