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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Discovery of self-identity can be daunting, especially when relying on others.
This quote by Betty Friedan highlights the challenging yet essential journey of self-discovery. It emphasizes that while depending on others might seem easier, true freedom and fulfillment come from understanding and embracing one's own identity, which can be a terrifying yet liberating experience, particularly for women who have been conditioned to look outside themselves for validation and direction.
Themes
Self-DiscoveryIdentityFreedomWomanIntrospection
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a women's empowerment seminar to encourage self-reflection.
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
Advice? I don't offer advice. Not my business. Your life is what you make it.
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
Who knows what women can be when they are finally free to become themselves?
Betty FriedanRead
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