- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
Betty Friedan changed my life. I read Feminine Mystique in my mid 20's when I was newly married and immediately saw her wisdom in the misery of my Mother and her friends. When I was divorced in my early 30's, I chose to live the rest of my life as a feminist. I remarried, set up my new marriage as an equal opportunity adventure, went back to college, raised my kids in non-sexist ways, etc. I have a great marriage 34 years later, and just retired from a rewarding career in both academic and nursing practice. My Mother, at age 90, is still angry she wasn't able to break out of the housewife role and is jealous of the lives my sister and I have been able to lead.
Betty Friedan started it all for me and my generation. Until then, the majority of us were educated "in case" something happened to our husbands.
