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eddie_qr's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
thehawk72's review against another edition
3.0
I was going to give this a higher rating, but Friedan is still a product of her time and seems to have very wishy-washy or negative opinions of race and sexuality. These weren’t massive parts of the book, in fact most of the book I would probably give 5 stars. But her stance of feminism including everyone comes into question when she accuses gay men of having emotional immaturity and Black people of becoming too extreme.
caitvienthusiast's review against another edition
4.0
who the hell is betty friedan and why has she published my diary under her name??? (ate but i wish she was aware that there are other classes and races than suburban middle class white women)
jhulme's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 stars. The first half of the book has aged surprisingly well and was at turns fascinating, enlightening, and shocking with elements that still rang all too familiar.
The book started losing me at the sex/sexuality/mental illness suppositions that tie in with adherence to the Feminine Mystique. That part of the book really *didn’t* age well.
Still - an iconic book and I’m glad I finally read it.
The book started losing me at the sex/sexuality/mental illness suppositions that tie in with adherence to the Feminine Mystique. That part of the book really *didn’t* age well.
Still - an iconic book and I’m glad I finally read it.
leasummer's review against another edition
3.0
This is a classic text and I feel like I should have liked it more, but many of the mystique points don't apply to me. I can imagine how amazing it was to read when it was first published.
I listened to the Audible audiobook and did not care for the narrator, I felt like she read in monotone voice and would run on sentences when she should have taken a breath.
Glad I finally read this. I think it's important still today. It is sad how much has not changed.
I listened to the Audible audiobook and did not care for the narrator, I felt like she read in monotone voice and would run on sentences when she should have taken a breath.
Glad I finally read this. I think it's important still today. It is sad how much has not changed.
ed_vai_11's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
it was well written, but some of the research methods lacked reliability. additionally, some of the takes were quite harmful and could lead to an even bigger divide in society. of course, it was written in a different time and many research has been conducted since then, so i chose to read it only to learn more.
anandazhu's review against another edition
3.0
Although I can appreciate the historical significance of this book, the writing feels at times redundant and repetitive - maybe it’s because some of the arguments seem self-evident nowadays (or have aged rather poorly - e.g., the postulations about homosexuality), or maybe it’s because of the *significant* amount of quoting from interviewees or other sources. The overall message is an incredibly important one, but somehow the manner in which that message is delivered just didn’t really resonate with me.
That being said, I feel that that reading this helped me to better empathize and understand my own mother. The section on how capitalism / consumer culture exploits the feminine mystique is also fascinating and still highly relevant.
That being said, I feel that that reading this helped me to better empathize and understand my own mother. The section on how capitalism / consumer culture exploits the feminine mystique is also fascinating and still highly relevant.