When one begins to think about it, America depends rather heavily on women's passive dependence, their femininity. Femininity, if one still wants to call it that, makes American women a target and a victim of the sexual sell.
Betty FriedanRead
Advice? I don't offer advice. Not my business. Your life is what you make it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes personal responsibility and the uniqueness of individual experiences.
Betty Friedan's quote conveys that each person's life is shaped by their own choices and actions. Rather than seeking advice from others, it highlights the importance of self-determination, suggesting that one should take ownership of their path and not rely on external guidance to define their life experiences.
Themes
AdviceLifeResponsibilityChoicesSelf-Determination
In practice
Example use cases
During a graduation speech to emphasize self-reliance.
More from Betty Friedan
All quotes →Over and over again, stories in women's magazines insist that women can know fulfillment only at the moment of giving birth to a child. They deny the years when she can no longer look forward to giving birth, even if she repeats the act over and over again. In the feminine mystique, there is no other way for a woman to dream of creation or of the future. There is no other way she can even dream about herself, except as her children's mother, her husband's wife.
Betty FriedanRead
We need to see men and women as equal partners, but it's hard to think of movies that do that. When I talk to people, they think of movies of forty-five years ago! Hepburn and Tracy!
Betty FriedanRead
No woman gets an orgasm from shining the kitchen floor.
Betty FriedanRead
It is easier to live through someone else than to complete yourself. The freedom to lead and plan your own life is frightening if you have never faced it before. It is frightening when a woman finally realizes that there is no answer to the question 'who am I' except the voice inside herself.
Betty FriedanRead
Who knows what women can be when they are finally free to become themselves?
Betty FriedanRead
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