Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique kicked off the second wave of feminism in the United States. This book is a sociological study of the roots of feminine mystique and how it has transformed "into a religion, a model by which all women must now live or deny their femininity." Although Friedan raises positive points that triggered an awakening for some women, she also had a very one-sided and narrow perspective of a woman's role as a homemaker, which ended up hurting the validity of her thesis, because there are two sides to every story, and both sides must be kept in mind. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One very interesting point that Friedan raised as part of an explanation of why the feminine mystique is in place is that the economy needs housewives to keep it booming. Friedan states that "the really important role that women play as housewives is to buy more things for the house. In all the talk about femininity and the role of women, it is forgotten that the real business of America is business" ( 299). Friedan proposes the idea that manufacturers and businessmen are among the real beneficiaries of keeping American women as homemakers, but, more importantly, that American women continue to want more, so that their empty voids can be filled with materialistic products. The American economy needed a boost, and they knew they could do it by “keeping American women housewives – the reservoir created by their lack of identity, lack of purpose, to be manipulated into dollars at the time of purchase. Properly manipulated, American housewives can receive the sense of identity, purpose, creativity, self-fulfillment, even sexual joy they lack, through purchasing things" (301). Not just the appliances that can be used in around the house, but also of the extravagance of the woman's materialistic possessions in general, economists knew that an emotionally empty housewife needed "these external entanglements to reinforce her emptiness of self, to make someone feel from her" (379). ideology, the economy certainly received its boost through the consumerism of the American housewife. Propaganda was used to make women feel as if they were empty, and as if purchasing certain items could satisfy their hunger by creating such propaganda. , as these minds needed to make the housewife feel the need to spend money on the product so that it would make her life easier and make her feel more successful as a housewife, but at the same time, not too easy to the point which the housewife feels useless. The idea behind this propaganda was well exemplified in the advertisement for X Mix, which allowed housewives to prepare an instant cake from a box. To avoid the woman's guilt for not making the effort to bake a cake from scratch for her family, the message was conveyed through the advertisement that "by using X Mix, the woman can demonstrate that she is a wife and mother." , not only baking desserts, but spending more time with his family” (Friedan 306). It was also highlighted that “with X Mix in your home, you will be… a happier woman” (306). The propaganda masterminds knew what they were doing and managed to lure the average housewife into the business through emotional appeal. This is a rather oblique perspective that forces readers to see a different angle of the landscape of feminine mystique, and Friedan has provided evidenceconcrete evidence to support his claim, so it appears to be true. Another interesting point Friedan raised was the dehumanization of the American housewife by conforming to the feminine mystique. In the twelfth chapter, “Progressive Dehumanization: The Comfortable Concentration Camp,” Friedan compares the victims locked up in concentration camps during the Holocaust to women stuck in their roles as housewives. It was quite clever how she symbolized the female mystique as a concentration camp and the housewife as a victim locked up in the concentration camp. Friedan believed that by conforming to the feminine mystique, housewives were dehumanizing themselves, and he conveyed his message with great clarity by comparing it to the way concentration camp prisoners were dehumanized. He stated that both housewives and concentration camp prisoners “were forced to spend their days in one job, which produced great fatigue, not because it killed physically, but because it was monotonous, interminable, did not require mental concentration, did not give hope of advancement or advancement.” recognition, was sometimes senseless and was controlled by the needs of others or the pace of the machines. It was a job that did not come from the prisoner's personality; it allowed no real initiative, no self-expression, not even a real delimitation of time” (Friedan 424). In this situation, the method of reaction for a concentration camp prisoner or a housewife (who does not feel satisfied with her role as a housewife) is to get tired of the living conditions and then deny the simple truth that she is unhappy; by lying to yourself and denying the reality of a situation, you enter a process of dehumanization. Finally referring to the housewife, Friedan emphasizes that “not the SS but the prisoners themselves became their own worst enemy. Because they could not bear to see their situation as it was, because they denied the very reality of their problem and ultimately settled into the camp itself as if it were the only reality, they were prisoners of the prison of their mind. ” (425). From the perspective of a housewife's life, Friedan's insight into the feminine mystique is indeed true. If the housewife conformed unhappily to her role while longing to realize more of her potential, then this cunning ideology is absolutely accurate; however, if the housewife was happy and satisfied as a wife and mother, then that is a different story Although Friedan made valid points in her argument against conformity to the feminine mystique, the validity of her argument is controversial due to her. partiality and narrow-mindedness are two sides to every story, and while her points are valid and relevant regarding one side of the female mystique, her narrow views only exemplify ignorance and stubbornness when looking at the other side. of the feminine mystique. Friedan essentially attacked the judgment of young, educated women who chose to become housewives, saying: “Girls who would normally go to college but drop out or give it up to get married… are products of the mystique. They abandon education earnestly, truly believing that they will find 'fulfillment' as wives and mothers” (Friedan 270-271). She also believed it was unrealistic and impossible for a woman to be happy as a housewife, stating that “there are aspects of the role of housewife which make it almost impossible for a woman of adult intelligence to retain a sense of human identity, the steadfast core of her life.” self or “I” without which a human being, man or woman, is not truly alive… I am convinced that there is something in the home state itself that is dangerous….