The Feminine Mystique

“The problem with no name” is a phrase that Friedan uses synonymously with “the feminine mystique” throughout the book; it refers to a particular brand of oppressive femininity that denies women self-realization and an identity of their own apart from a husband and children. Although many women assume they are alone in frequently thinking to themselves, “I want something more than my husband and my children and my home” (22), they are far from it.

Friedan locates the mystique as a social problem that developed in the years following World War II. Prior to that, positive changes for women were beginning to saturate American culture. In 1920, Congress passed the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. When World War II broke out, women proved their worth in the workforce.

After American soldiers returned from war, however, society’s relationship to feminism began to regress. Societal messaging from a range of sources urged women to find fulfillment only in the domestic sphere. Receiving this message, women began to marry and have children younger and younger, often transitioning right from high school to married life or dropping out of college early to start a family; at the time of the book’s publication, the average woman married at 20.