Betty Friedan

A Speaker for all

 In today's day and age not everyone can find someone to look up to. Simply because in our minds a hero is someone who is capable of something of great value. But what if we start realizing that a hero is someone that allows us to be inspired because of different reasons. A hero doesn't have to be capable of great things but instead an everyday person that helped make a change somewhere in the world . A hero can be a person in the career you hope to be in someday or a goal you hope to accomplish in the future. "A hero is any person intent on making this a better place for all people" (Maya Angelou). Maya Angelou sums up what the motive for a true hero should be. A true hero should want to make the world a better place somehow, no matter how significant of a change they make. Anyone can look up to  an everyday person who tried to speak for people who didn't have a voice and in the end can be labeled as a hero. In my eyes, I think a hero is someone that can inspire others to take action. When I read about someone I should be thinking about ways I could take action about something I am passionate about. I think a hero is one who can talk about topics that aren't being talked about so they can raise awareness. I also believe a hero can make everyone else comfortable about a certain situation and encourage others to make a significant change. A hero should have the goal of achieving unity and pave a way for someone to be happy with their life and decisions. A hero is a hero if it inspires you and it's someone who affects your morale or the way you think. A hero should be someone who has their feet on the ground and wants to help instead of wanting fame. A hero should be able to think outside of the box and do things nobody else thinks of doing.

Feminism and gender equality has been a debate for years on end in every country. Women are oppressed because of domesticity values, religion, and stereotypes every day. It is important to have equality and unity in the world. But it won't start until someone raises their voice and represents for those who are too scared to or are unable to.

Betty Friedan, born in 1921-2006, lived an inspirational and moving life during WW2 and the modern day time. Growing up in an anti-Semitic town, and gaining the classic role of a woman, which was to nurture kids and take care of the house, she found herself unhappy. She realized many other women were also unhappy and published her book the Feminine Mystique to show that women needed to educate themselves and stand up. Friedan had also took a major stand in the feminism movement continuing to inspire women years after the book with the NOW (National Organization for Women) organization. This organization is still a major part of the feminist movement and she is forever known as a feminist figure even today. A hero has to be someone who can not only inspire you with their works but with their opinions and goals as well. The person you look up to should be in not over their head and should be someone who sees themselves better than others. He/She should have a cause, some way to help society change for the better. The person you look up to should be someone who cares for things that nobody is talking about. A problem that should be solved but where nobody is doing anything to solve it. They should inspire others to be a hero or take action against something you're passionate about. Betty Friedan can be seen as a hero for her ability to be humble despite the fame she possesses and claiming that her struggle is the same as every woman's. She is also open minded with her reforms and protests on abortion and for allowing women to be in politics and to have an independent attitude changing the status quo for women immensely.

Betty Friedan had earned the title of a hero because of her ability to be humble. In this overview of Betty Friedan and her famous book, it is evident that she had a very humble persona to her stating," Friedan's experience was similar to that of millions of women who had worked during World War II and were then encouraged - by employers, the media, advertising and government propaganda - to return to "hearth and home" as mothers and housewives after men came home."(Hollingsworth,Dreier).Friedan's story is that of an everyday person, which is what makes her so unique.She not only relates to everyone else but empathizes and speaks for herself and everyone else at the same time. She took a part in the feminist movement for herself and justice for others. Friedan's works emphasized how she went through the unrest of not being able to do anything more with her life, an epidemy everyone else were experiencing and talked about it.  She allowed people to know that she understands and is just like everyone else and wanted justice for this problem of domesticity. Betty's humble persona is also evident in the making of her book where she addressed an everyday problem as the article states, "a content homemaker who deferred her own ambitions and interests to take care of her family. Friedan was the first writer to analyze how the perpetration of this stereotype belied the complexity of most women's lives; she called this phenomenon "the feminine mystique."("Overview of Betty (Naomi) Friedan.").Betty's background if of a normal woman with a normal story and used this to reach out to every girl and young mother out there. During this time period every women had the same story without even realizing and Betty uplifted that. She made it clear that every woman goes through the same thing and that nobody is alone, representing a voice for all. She also proved that things don't have to remain this way and inspired other women to pursue an education and stand up on their own two feet. Betty's ability to speak up about an everyday problem and empathize with every homemaker of her time added to her humbleness and is a trait for why she is a hero.

Betty Friedan not only represented a voice for everyone and raised awareness against this injustice but protested against choices that were considered taboo at the time. In the overview on Friedan, her achievements are noticeable because of the creativity behind her accomplishments, such as "participating in the founding of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966 and lobbying incessantly for such causes as the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and legalization of abortion." ("Overview of Betty (Naomi) Friedan."). Friedan worked hard to get abortion rights and this argument is still relevant to today, with Friedan influencing the topic greatly. Betty wished to reform all aspects of a young housewive's life.  Her organization meant for all women to come together and unify .This revolutionized the feminism movement and was an out of the box idea during a time of war and turmoil. She gave women the power to make decisions about their own bodies when nobody could talk about it openly. In an article talking about Friedan's book, it points out a key factor of Friedan's movement highlighting, "We need to campaign - men and women, whites and blacks -  'Women's issues' are symptoms of problems that affect everyone."("Betty Friedan." Newsmakers ). One of Betty's goals was to have gender equality which is where the word feminism has derived to be. The thought process of having both genders equal was an unheard topic prior to when Betty spoke about it. Betty's way of announcing this thought had never been done before but has started a worldwide movement that continues on  even today. Betty's capability to advance the feminist movement in a whole new direction is not only inspiring but a lesson and story for all to know.

Betty Friedan can be seen as a hero to all because of her humble persona, and from her out of the box ideas that can inspire everyone and anyone to speak up as well. She not only showed compassion for all women, but acted as an inspiration to be independent and to beat the stereotypes that society had created for the typical mother. With her creative ideas and unique views on equality and abortion, Betty had surpassed her generation's ideas and created a whole new definition for feminism.  "Thanks to The Feminist Mystique and the movement it spawned, her influence is evident in every American household, regardless if any members call themselves feminists." (Hollingsworth, Dreier). The quote shows how the movement has left a lasting influence and everyone can consider themselves a feminist.