How do others view Betty Friedan?

Below is the work of two different historians and their views of the impact of Betty Friedan

How Betty Friedan Changed Our Lives

Marie Cocco was a journalist and political commentator for the newspaper company, The Record. Her article, How Betty Friedan Changed Our Lives, was published in 2006 after Friedan's death and discussed her impact on women both back then and today. Cocco analyzes The Feminine Mystique and how it empowered women to publicly talk about their challenges in order to help women understand that their individual unhappiness wasn't a result of their own doing, but rather a result of larger societal limitations and restrictions placed on women. Cocco's overall argument about Friedan is that she changed women's lives by emphasizing the inequality that was experienced and encouraging women to use their voices to demand for greater opportunities, education, and overall freedom. She views Friedan as one of the most influential figures of this time, as she transformed the way women saw their place in society and what their expectations of life should truly be.  Her article shows the importance of Friedan's work and how her legacy continues to live on. 

Finding Our Way: Friedan, Steinem, and the Fight for the Women's Movement

Marie Rebecca Olsen is a women's history historian whose work focuses on the development of modern-day feminism. She examines the influences of both Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem in her 2017 dissertation, Finding Our Way: Friedan, Steinem, and the Fight for the Women's Movement, 1960-1980, and how they both became major leaders during the rise of second-wave feminism. Olsen's overall argument about Friedan is that she played an essential role in bringing attention to women's inequality nationwide and empowering women to speak up to help establish organized movements to support women's liberation all over. While Friedan did typically only focus on issues that affect middle-class white women, leaving out the experiences of women of color or in poverty, her accomplishments and influence still lead to the development of the modern-day feminism that we are currently experiencing. Friedan helped shape the direction of the movement back then, and her legacy continues to help shape the movement today. 

1. Cocco, Marie. "How Betty Friedan Changed our Lives ; "each Suburban Wife Struggled with it Alone... as She Lay Beside Her Husband at Night - She was Afraid to Ask Even of Herself the Silent Question - 'is this all?' "; Betty Friedan: [all Editions]." The Record, 08 Feb., 2006, pp. L15. ProQuest, https://login.lib.proxy.csustan.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/how-betty-friedan-changed-our-lives-each-suburban/docview/3193291117/se-2

2. Olsen, Marie R. Finding our Way: Friedan, Steinem, and the Fight for the Women's Movement, 1960-1980, Southern New Hampshire University, United States -- New Hampshire, 2017. ProQuest, https://login.lib.proxy.csustan.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/finding-our-way-friedan-steinem-fight-womens/docview/1973251453/se-2.