A review by anandazhu
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan

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.