Betty friedan
Betty friedan1.) Betty Friedan, Her Life
2.) Born, February 4, 1921
3.) Betty was born at the beginning of the decade of change, coincidentally one year after the 19th Amendment was passed, giving women the right to vote. The twenties were years of carefree living. Women were cutting their hair, shortening hemlines, and driving, now that the automobile was available. Her parents, Harry and Miriam Goldstein were very active in the jewish community and fairly wealthy. Betty grew up priviledged with butlers and maids tending to her every need. Despite all of this, Betty did not have the most enjoyable childhood. Growing up in a time when beauty was highly focused on, Betty had a number of physical ailments. She had bow legs and had to wear braces on them for three years. Bronchitis affected her every winter, which developed into asthma. She could hardly see out of one eye and had to wear glasses, and had crooked teeth.
Harry and Miriam placed high value on appearances, which didn't agree with Betty. She never kept her room clean and didn't care about dresses and things. Her family members said she was too smart to be interested in ordinary things. She was also her father's favorite and he treated her like a son. Unfortunately, her and her mother clashed. They were both controlling. Miriam dominated Betty, and Betty resented it a great deal. In her early years, Betty tried to measure herself to her mother and would always fall short. It took her a few years to realize that the perfect image of motherhood, along with beauty, talent, and strength, was only a fa�ade, and something she never wanted to be. From there, she told herself that she would be more than a wife and mother.
Betty was eight years old when the depression hit. The Goldstein's were never poor, but all the little luxuries had to be done away with. Harry and Miriam would often argue in the middle of the night over expenses. Battlefields at the dinner table, where Harry would pound his fist on the table and storm out of the room set the mood for many of Betty's later battles in the women's movement. This also led to Betty's discomfort with money matters.
Betty had many immediate friends throughout her youth. She was also a mischievous child. She would start clubs like the Baddy Baddy club (foreshadowing her numerous future organizations). Her and her schoolmates would plan certain times to drop their books or break out into coughing fits. Sadly, around junior high, anti-Semitism grew and those in the Jewish community were excluded from the many new sororities and fraternities. Her whole social whirl had come to an end. High school was thought to be a new beginning, but...
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