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9. “I’ve Been More of a Jewish Mother to the Movement Than I Have to My Own Children”

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Betty Friedan
This chapter is in the book Betty Friedan
164“I’ve Been More of a Jewish Mother to the Movement Than I Have to My Own Children”In 1971, one year into the Me Decade, Friedan, fifty, found herself alienated from the women’s movement. She was a di-vorcée with grown children at a time when many celebrities in women’s lib—Kate Millett, Andrea Dworkin, Gloria Steinem, Shulamith Firestone—were unmarried, in (for her) unconven-tional marriages, or childless. Of course, there were women, like Bella Abzug, who were happily married. Divorced and premeno-pausal, Friedan was caught between the wrath of her teenaged daughter, Emily, and that of her movement sisters and daugh-ters. For her, the personal had become political in a particularly harsh way. And then two things happened: first, three days after her birthday, in a February 7 Washington Post story, Carl, him-self fifty, boasted about his new bride—a thirty-six-year-old blonde model named Norene—making him chicken soup and shining his shoes. In the Boston Globe, Friedan snapped her re-9
© Yale University Press, New Haven

164“I’ve Been More of a Jewish Mother to the Movement Than I Have to My Own Children”In 1971, one year into the Me Decade, Friedan, fifty, found herself alienated from the women’s movement. She was a di-vorcée with grown children at a time when many celebrities in women’s lib—Kate Millett, Andrea Dworkin, Gloria Steinem, Shulamith Firestone—were unmarried, in (for her) unconven-tional marriages, or childless. Of course, there were women, like Bella Abzug, who were happily married. Divorced and premeno-pausal, Friedan was caught between the wrath of her teenaged daughter, Emily, and that of her movement sisters and daugh-ters. For her, the personal had become political in a particularly harsh way. And then two things happened: first, three days after her birthday, in a February 7 Washington Post story, Carl, him-self fifty, boasted about his new bride—a thirty-six-year-old blonde model named Norene—making him chicken soup and shining his shoes. In the Boston Globe, Friedan snapped her re-9
© Yale University Press, New Haven

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents ix
  3. Introduction 1
  4. 1. A Prophet in Peoria 5
  5. 2. “Split at the Root” 25
  6. 3. “My Roots Are in My Moving” 47
  7. 4. “It Was Almost as Good as Having a Baby” 59
  8. 5. “The Problem That Had No Name” 83
  9. 6. The “NAACP for Women” 101
  10. 7. “Our Revolution Is Unique” 124
  11. 8. Sexual Politics and the Women’s Strike for Equality 142
  12. 9. “I’ve Been More of a Jewish Mother to the Movement Than I Have to My Own Children” 164
  13. 10. “It Changed My Life” 187
  14. 11. Her Second Stages 215
  15. 12. “Here I Am! This Is Me! This Is How I Am!” 239
  16. 13. Life So Far 261
  17. Epilogue: “Not Your Grandfather’s Patriarchy” 275
  18. Notes 279
  19. Acknowledgments 337
  20. Index 339
  21. About the Author 368
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https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300274721-010

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents ix
  3. Introduction 1
  4. 1. A Prophet in Peoria 5
  5. 2. “Split at the Root” 25
  6. 3. “My Roots Are in My Moving” 47
  7. 4. “It Was Almost as Good as Having a Baby” 59
  8. 5. “The Problem That Had No Name” 83
  9. 6. The “NAACP for Women” 101
  10. 7. “Our Revolution Is Unique” 124
  11. 8. Sexual Politics and the Women’s Strike for Equality 142
  12. 9. “I’ve Been More of a Jewish Mother to the Movement Than I Have to My Own Children” 164
  13. 10. “It Changed My Life” 187
  14. 11. Her Second Stages 215
  15. 12. “Here I Am! This Is Me! This Is How I Am!” 239
  16. 13. Life So Far 261
  17. Epilogue: “Not Your Grandfather’s Patriarchy” 275
  18. Notes 279
  19. Acknowledgments 337
  20. Index 339
  21. About the Author 368
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