When we met, Betty asked me to reveal problems and conflicts at the Commission. As a staff member, however, I did not feel I could publicly speak out about the Commission's dereliction, and I did not tell her what was happening with regard to women's issues. But when she came a second time, I was feeling particularly frustrated at the Commission's failure to implement the law for women, and I invited her into my office. I told her, with tears in my eyes, that the country needed an organization to fight for women like the NAACP fought for African Americans.
Sonia Pressman Fuentes
______________________________________________________
TALIA WEISBERG'S ESSAY WRITTEN AS AN APPLICATION TO HARVARD ABOUT HOW SHE WAS INFLUENCED BY BETTY FRIEDAN THROUGH THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE
PS. Talia was accepted.
BETTY FRIEDAN
by Talia Weisberg
Her name can be found in most American history books, and her accomplishments are part of every US history curriculum. This recognition is not undeserved, as she revived interest in feminism with her book The Feminine Mystique and facilitated change in women’s roles by establishing the National Organization for Women (NOW). Although most high school students treat Betty Friedan as another name to memorize for a history test, she is so much more than a removed figure in a textbook for me. She is the reason that I am a feminist.
My middle school history teacher developed my interest in First Wave Feminism, encouraging me to write papers for class and National History Day (NHD) about the suffrage movement. The summer before I entered ninth grade, I progressed into learning about the Second Wave on my own. Doing research led me to read feminist classics, all of which really resonated with me. I identified much more with 1960s and 1970s feminism largely because the issues that were relevant then, from LGBT+ rights to equal pay to reproductive justice, are still pertinent today.
However, it was not until I read The Feminine Mystique that I had my “feminist click moment.” While reading, I was shocked by the blatant sexism that society condoned and prevalence of discriminatory attitudes towards women. Friedan’s exposé was so powerful that it rallied me to action and made me want to battle for women’s rights. It was official: I became a feminist.
Ever since reading The Feminine Mystique, I have gotten involved in numerous feminist activities. I have written four award-winning papers about women’s history for NHD, one of which won at the national level. One of these papers was actually about the history of NOW and the advances it has made for women’s rights since its inception in 1966. I love to write about feminist topics, so I have published over 100 articles about feminism in media outlets like the Ms. Magazine Blog,Jewish Week, FBomb, Jewesses with Attitude, and Girl w/ Pen!. I also blog regularly at Star of Davida (starofdavida.blogspot.com). I also co-created Maidelle.com, a writing website that allows teenage girls to speak about their lives without any inhibitions.
Betty Friedan influenced my current actions as well as my future aspirations, as I hope to pursue gender studies in college and become a labor lawyer specializing in women’s issues. These goals were made final when I attended the NOW conference as part of the NOW Young Feminist Task Force, an exclusive group that unites young feminists and gives them a greater voice. Hearing motivating speeches and meeting dedicated feminists showed me that this is what I want to do with my life. Although I never met Friedan, who died in 2006, I know that she would be proud to have inspired me to carry on the torch of feminism
________________________________________________________
When I met Betty Friedan, we discussed marriage, divorce, and child rearing, although I had planned to discuss her book The Feminine Mystique. We had some similar experiences as I, too, had been married for 20 years and was separated from my husband. Whereas she had three children, I had only one daughter, and she said to me, "don't say 'only' one--you have one wonderful daughter." I felt encouraged, and, paraphrasing Wordsworth, in a feminine mode, I said, "the child is Mother of the woman, and I shall wish my days to be bound each to each in natural piety." She closed her eyes for a moment, as if she were savoring that thought, and then she said, "that's right," and nodded. Some people then came to talk to her, and she continued smiling. During the rest of the reception, we often caught each other's glances, and whenever our eyes met, she had a glimmer in it, which was so warm and it was like she was saying "yes, yes" and following my train of thought. She had a smile of understanding. I felt very close to her after this meeting.
Best regards,
Jenny Batlay, PhD
________________________________________________________
I met Betty Friedan in 1970 the night before the March for Women's Equality down 5th Avenue. Since that day our paths crossed many times. I found her to be a brave woman who had a sense that her book "The Feminine Mystique" was having a profound world-wide impact on the lives of women. At that time we did not know the extent of her input but knew something was happening and that women were going forward, not to return to the way it was.
Betty was constantly under attack, both from the right and the, left and from governments nationally or internationally. She was one of the few women who fundamentally changed women's lives in modern times. I remember the time in Mexico City when I attended the International Women's Year Conference along with Betty and Jacqui Ceballos. The environment was very unfriendly to feminists especially, American feminists. Betty was threatened by various government and political groups to the point that she was warned that her life was in danger by both the Mexican and American government representatives. We set up a separate speak-out called "East meets West" after one the daily conferences to show that American feminists were for women and not controlled by the government. It was attended by women from different parts of the world. At the end women started sharing their concerns and hardships a nd not the dogma given to them by their governments. Later we heard that it was written about in various countries, even in China. Betty's book "It Changed my Life' gives the details in her chapter "Scary doings in Mexico City" of the unbelievable events that took place.
Another moment of her life when she had to keep up the fight was when she ran for a delegate slot to the Democratic Convention in New York in 1974. I was her campaign manager and booked speaking engagements with senior citizen centers and various non-political places on the West Side of Manhattan, since we didn't have the political power to be invited to speak at the usual places. She placed second, over elected political officials. The Board of Elections said she didn't win. In the end we were proven right and off to the convention she went.
I supported Betty when I was a board member on the NOW National Board. There was a split in the movement on the direction it should take and Betty was again fighting for what she believed was the right way the movement should go. It hurt her deeply when certain people disagreed with her.
My last memory of Betty was in Washington, DC for the "March for Women's Lives". Betty was eighty-three years old: it was two years before her death and she was not feeling well. She sat quietly at the bus window looking out. People lining the streets saw it was her and called out her name and cheered. The bus stopped along the way so Betty could speak to the people and wave. It brought a sparkle to her eyes and she became the Betty we knew from the past. When we arrived at the mall I rode in a cart crossing crossing the Washington Mall, with Betty up front and myself and Sandy Zwerling in the back. Women filled the mall. As they separated to allow the cart to pass they started yelling "that's Betty Friedan, that's Betty Friedan". Cheers filled the air. Betty sat up smiling and waved.
She was our leader.
Carole De Saram, VFA Board Member, President NY NOW 1974, Board Member National Board NOW 1974.
_____________________________________________________
I met Betty just after she published "Feminine Mystique," when she was about to write a piece about working mothers (still a new idea) for the then NY Herald Tribune. I had three kids under five years old, and also a job as Special Features editor for Harper's Bazaar--for which I also wrote a monthly column about social issues, called Needles and Pins. She then lived at the Dakota on the Upper West Side and I lived nearby at the Century. A mutual friend introduced us, and Betty invited me to come by for an interview about the joys and travails of working-motherhood.
We had an immediate meeting of minds and recognized each other as kindred spirits. Her hearty, raucous laugh enchanted me. Later, after we both divorced, we moved into the same building. At One Lincoln Plaza, off Central Park, we were closer neighbors than ever. Betty was more of a gadabout than I, but she always checked in when she came home at night. We shared many a midnight supper together, and gossiped like kids over cold chicken and glasses of wine about everything and everyone.
Betty signed the books she wrote: "Evolve! Enjoy!" To the end of her legendary life, she took her own advice. She evolved. She enjoyed.
I loved her. I still do.
Natalie Gittelson Lachman
_____________________________________________________
Mary Eastwood, Esq. remembers:
I first met Betty Friedan in the late fall of 1965. Pauli Murray had given a speech to a national women's organization in New York (National Council of Women?) in which she stated "I hope that women do not have to march on Washington like the 1963 march for jobs and freedom in order to get title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 enforced." or words to that effect. She was quoted in the New York Times which Betty read.
At the time Betty was planning to write another book basically on what the Lyndon Johnson Administration was doing on women. Pres. Johnson had previously announced he would appoint 50 women to high federal positions. Betty called Pauli and asked who she could talk to in Washington, DC and Pauli told her Catherine East and me. Pauli knew us from working with the President's Commission on the Status of Women in 1962 and 63, and Pauli and I had just finished writing a law review article (Jane Crow and the Law) awaiting publication in the George Washington Law Review.
Betty first met Catherine and me separately, then together every couple of weeks after that. It was at these dinner meetings we encouraged Betty to initiate an organization outside the government to pressure the government to enforce the nondiscrimination in employment law for women. At first Betty resisted saying she was not an organization type person.
It was the next summer (1966) at the meeting of the State Commissions on the Status of Women, that NOW was started. Catherine provided most of the names of women to be invited to Betty's hotel room
_____________________________________________________
The only personal contact I had with Betty was in 1999 when she was honored by the VFA -- I had a photo taken of the two of us, which I proudly display with other feminist icons. At that event, I asked her if I could get her something from the bar -- She said - "Yes, get me a Scotch" -- and as I turned to do so -- she said "...and make it a double!"
GRACE WELCH, VFA board member and President Emerita, National Organization for Women - Mid-Suffolk chapter, Yoga Teacher
______________________________________________
I wrote a paper about The Feminine Mystique
when I was in my first year of college. I still have it
somewhere
Linda Joplin
BETTY FRIEDAN
by Talia Weisberg
Her name can be found in most American history books, and her accomplishments are part of every US history curriculum. This recognition is not undeserved, as she revived interest in feminism with her book The Feminine Mystique and facilitated change in women’s roles by establishing the National Organization for Women (NOW). Although most high school students treat Betty Friedan as another name to memorize for a history test, she is so much more than a removed figure in a textbook for me. She is the reason that I am a feminist.
My middle school history teacher developed my interest in First Wave Feminism, encouraging me to write papers for class and National History Day (NHD) about the suffrage movement. The summer before I entered ninth grade, I progressed into learning about the Second Wave on my own. Doing research led me to read feminist classics, all of which really resonated with me. I identified much more with 1960s and 1970s feminism largely because the issues that were relevant then, from LGBT+ rights to equal pay to reproductive justice, are still pertinent today.
However, it was not until I read The Feminine Mystique that I had my “feminist click moment.” While reading, I was shocked by the blatant sexism that society condoned and prevalence of discriminatory attitudes towards women. Friedan’s exposé was so powerful that it rallied me to action and made me want to battle for women’s rights. It was official: I became a feminist.
Ever since reading The Feminine Mystique, I have gotten involved in numerous feminist activities. I have written four award-winning papers about women’s history for NHD, one of which won at the national level. One of these papers was actually about the history of NOW and the advances it has made for women’s rights since its inception in 1966. I love to write about feminist topics, so I have published over 100 articles about feminism in media outlets like the Ms. Magazine Blog,Jewish Week, FBomb, Jewesses with Attitude, and Girl w/ Pen!. I also blog regularly at Star of Davida (starofdavida.blogspot.com). I also co-created Maidelle.com, a writing website that allows teenage girls to speak about their lives without any inhibitions.
Betty Friedan influenced my current actions as well as my future aspirations, as I hope to pursue gender studies in college and become a labor lawyer specializing in women’s issues. These goals were made final when I attended the NOW conference as part of the NOW Young Feminist Task Force, an exclusive group that unites young feminists and gives them a greater voice. Hearing motivating speeches and meeting dedicated feminists showed me that this is what I want to do with my life. Although I never met Friedan, who died in 2006, I know that she would be proud to have inspired me to carry on the torch of feminism
________________________________________________________
When I met Betty Friedan, we discussed marriage, divorce, and child rearing, although I had planned to discuss her book The Feminine Mystique. We had some similar experiences as I, too, had been married for 20 years and was separated from my husband. Whereas she had three children, I had only one daughter, and she said to me, "don't say 'only' one--you have one wonderful daughter." I felt encouraged, and, paraphrasing Wordsworth, in a feminine mode, I said, "the child is Mother of the woman, and I shall wish my days to be bound each to each in natural piety." She closed her eyes for a moment, as if she were savoring that thought, and then she said, "that's right," and nodded. Some people then came to talk to her, and she continued smiling. During the rest of the reception, we often caught each other's glances, and whenever our eyes met, she had a glimmer in it, which was so warm and it was like she was saying "yes, yes" and following my train of thought. She had a smile of understanding. I felt very close to her after this meeting.
Best regards,
Jenny Batlay, PhD
________________________________________________________
I met Betty Friedan in 1970 the night before the March for Women's Equality down 5th Avenue. Since that day our paths crossed many times. I found her to be a brave woman who had a sense that her book "The Feminine Mystique" was having a profound world-wide impact on the lives of women. At that time we did not know the extent of her input but knew something was happening and that women were going forward, not to return to the way it was.
Betty was constantly under attack, both from the right and the, left and from governments nationally or internationally. She was one of the few women who fundamentally changed women's lives in modern times. I remember the time in Mexico City when I attended the International Women's Year Conference along with Betty and Jacqui Ceballos. The environment was very unfriendly to feminists especially, American feminists. Betty was threatened by various government and political groups to the point that she was warned that her life was in danger by both the Mexican and American government representatives. We set up a separate speak-out called "East meets West" after one the daily conferences to show that American feminists were for women and not controlled by the government. It was attended by women from different parts of the world. At the end women started sharing their concerns and hardships a nd not the dogma given to them by their governments. Later we heard that it was written about in various countries, even in China. Betty's book "It Changed my Life' gives the details in her chapter "Scary doings in Mexico City" of the unbelievable events that took place.
Another moment of her life when she had to keep up the fight was when she ran for a delegate slot to the Democratic Convention in New York in 1974. I was her campaign manager and booked speaking engagements with senior citizen centers and various non-political places on the West Side of Manhattan, since we didn't have the political power to be invited to speak at the usual places. She placed second, over elected political officials. The Board of Elections said she didn't win. In the end we were proven right and off to the convention she went.
I supported Betty when I was a board member on the NOW National Board. There was a split in the movement on the direction it should take and Betty was again fighting for what she believed was the right way the movement should go. It hurt her deeply when certain people disagreed with her.
My last memory of Betty was in Washington, DC for the "March for Women's Lives". Betty was eighty-three years old: it was two years before her death and she was not feeling well. She sat quietly at the bus window looking out. People lining the streets saw it was her and called out her name and cheered. The bus stopped along the way so Betty could speak to the people and wave. It brought a sparkle to her eyes and she became the Betty we knew from the past. When we arrived at the mall I rode in a cart crossing crossing the Washington Mall, with Betty up front and myself and Sandy Zwerling in the back. Women filled the mall. As they separated to allow the cart to pass they started yelling "that's Betty Friedan, that's Betty Friedan". Cheers filled the air. Betty sat up smiling and waved.
She was our leader.
Carole De Saram, VFA Board Member, President NY NOW 1974, Board Member National Board NOW 1974.
_____________________________________________________
I met Betty just after she published "Feminine Mystique," when she was about to write a piece about working mothers (still a new idea) for the then NY Herald Tribune. I had three kids under five years old, and also a job as Special Features editor for Harper's Bazaar--for which I also wrote a monthly column about social issues, called Needles and Pins. She then lived at the Dakota on the Upper West Side and I lived nearby at the Century. A mutual friend introduced us, and Betty invited me to come by for an interview about the joys and travails of working-motherhood.
We had an immediate meeting of minds and recognized each other as kindred spirits. Her hearty, raucous laugh enchanted me. Later, after we both divorced, we moved into the same building. At One Lincoln Plaza, off Central Park, we were closer neighbors than ever. Betty was more of a gadabout than I, but she always checked in when she came home at night. We shared many a midnight supper together, and gossiped like kids over cold chicken and glasses of wine about everything and everyone.
Betty signed the books she wrote: "Evolve! Enjoy!" To the end of her legendary life, she took her own advice. She evolved. She enjoyed.
I loved her. I still do.
Natalie Gittelson Lachman
_____________________________________________________
Mary Eastwood, Esq. remembers:
I first met Betty Friedan in the late fall of 1965. Pauli Murray had given a speech to a national women's organization in New York (National Council of Women?) in which she stated "I hope that women do not have to march on Washington like the 1963 march for jobs and freedom in order to get title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 enforced." or words to that effect. She was quoted in the New York Times which Betty read.
At the time Betty was planning to write another book basically on what the Lyndon Johnson Administration was doing on women. Pres. Johnson had previously announced he would appoint 50 women to high federal positions. Betty called Pauli and asked who she could talk to in Washington, DC and Pauli told her Catherine East and me. Pauli knew us from working with the President's Commission on the Status of Women in 1962 and 63, and Pauli and I had just finished writing a law review article (Jane Crow and the Law) awaiting publication in the George Washington Law Review.
Betty first met Catherine and me separately, then together every couple of weeks after that. It was at these dinner meetings we encouraged Betty to initiate an organization outside the government to pressure the government to enforce the nondiscrimination in employment law for women. At first Betty resisted saying she was not an organization type person.
It was the next summer (1966) at the meeting of the State Commissions on the Status of Women, that NOW was started. Catherine provided most of the names of women to be invited to Betty's hotel room
_____________________________________________________
The only personal contact I had with Betty was in 1999 when she was honored by the VFA -- I had a photo taken of the two of us, which I proudly display with other feminist icons. At that event, I asked her if I could get her something from the bar -- She said - "Yes, get me a Scotch" -- and as I turned to do so -- she said "...and make it a double!"
GRACE WELCH, VFA board member and President Emerita, National Organization for Women - Mid-Suffolk chapter, Yoga Teacher
______________________________________________
I wrote a paper about The Feminine Mystique
when I was in my first year of college. I still have it
somewhere
Linda Joplin
