About Betty Friedan, Distinguished Visiting Professor
Betty Friedan was the foremost spokesperson for women's rights in the world. In 1963, the publication of her book, The Feminine Mystique, set off shock waves around the world and is regarded as the catalytic work of the women's movement. After graduating from Smith College and pursuing graduate studies at the University of California at Berkeley, Friedan worked briefly as a reporter in New York City before becoming a full-time homemaker. While her children were at school, Friedan began researching the role that American society assigned to women, first with a questionnaire sent to fellow Smith College alumni, followed by wider-ranging interviews.
When published as The Feminine Mystique, Friedan's research and insight into gender roles in America initiated a fundamental re-thinking of how women defined themselves, their responsibilities, and their choices. Friedan's next book, The Second Stage, challenged the direction of some within the women's movement who had veered toward an increasingly separatist view of women's issues. She is also the author of It Changed My Life and The Fountain of Age, the latter based on ten years of research on changing sex roles and the aging process. With Beyond Gender: The New Politics of Work and Family (published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997) Friedan emphasizes economic justice rather than narrow identity politics as the basis for women's - and society's - continued progress toward equality. Her latest work, Life So Far (Simon and Schuster, 2000), is a memoir reflecting on her life experiences, particularly her role as a "change agent" in the women's movement.
Friedan has traveled and lectured all over the world and has written for such diverse publications as McCall's, Harper's, The New York Times, The New Republic, and The New Yorker. She has been a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Southern California, New York University, and George Mason University, and most recently, an Adjunct Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Friedan was a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations and Director of the New Paradigm Program at the Institute for Women and Work.
