In her excerpt, Friedan mainly points out that in order to achieve self-fulfillment or identity, women need to work and therefore use their full capacities, like men. She talks about how strong, independent and self-confident the American women once were, in the last century. They were capable of pioneering the land by running the farms and plantations. Basically, they were as equal and free as men during that time. After a while, she reveals that, "The identity crisis for women did not begin in America until ( ) the pioneering was done and men began to build the new society in industries and professions outside the home." She says that education and the right to work highly respected jobs are a woman's most important needs; as opposed to staying home and being a housewife which lets her feel empty and terrorised. .
In my opinion, the feminists" movement brought some good in the society, as it has also taken away some very important elements. I agree with the author believing that a woman should have the same rights as men, such as voting, earning a salary according to the quality of the service, not the gender. It is also a good thing for women to work in fields that were once exclusively reserved for men, such as law and medicine. However, I disagree with the author when she says that, "A woman cannot find her identity through her husband, her children" that, "She cannot find it in the dull routine of housework." Not all women wish to work outside the house and moreover, in the more advanced jobs of society. Some would prefer to dedicate their lives raising their kids and having a family. Education and work are not a woman's greatest needs as the author states. They are probably part of her goals in life, but there are also other equally important goals such as the need to build a family and live a happy life. One thing that feminism took away is the importance of the family values and her natural role of "the mother taking care of her children".
