BETTY FRIEDAN BORN IN PEORIA
Peoria, Illinois (JFK+50) On February 4, 1921, Betty Friedan*, future American feminist, was born here in Peoria. Her 1963 book "The Feminine Mystique"** ushered in "a new wave of feminist activism."
Ms. Friedan is regarded as "one of the most famous American feminists of the Twentieth century." She played an important role in the founding of the National Organization of Women, the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws and the National Women's Political Caucus.
Betty Friedan's activism led to passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963.***
*Betty (Bettye) Goldstein Friedan (1921-2006) was born in Peoria, IL. Her father was a Jewish immigrant from Kiev & her mother was American. BGF earned a degree in psychology at Smith College & attended Highlander Folk School in Tennessee. She went to work for United Federated News, a labor syndicate, in 1946.
**The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963, was based on the phrase coined by Betty Friedan which questioned the assumptions that women were fulfilled by housework, marriage, & children. BF maintained that women were unsatisfied but couldn't let on. She called it "the problem that has no name."
***Equal Pay Act of 1963 was signed by JFK on June 10. It abolishes wage disparity based on sex.
JFK+50 NOTE
Before passage of the Equal Pay Act, President Kennedy was asked by reporter May Craig what he had done for women according to the promises of the Democratic platform of 1960. JFK laughed & said...
"I'm sure we haven't done enough (but) I am a strong believer in equal pay for equal work and I think we ought to do better than we're doing and I'm glad you reminded me of it, Mrs. Craig."
SOURCE
"Betty Friedan, Fifty-one Key Feminists," ed. Lori Marso, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 72-77, www.escholarship.org/
