Betty Friedan

"the core of the problem today is not sexual but a problem of identity--a stunting of growth that is perpetuated by the feminine mystique."

- Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, 1963. NY: Dell Publ., 1974.

Betty Naomi Goldstein Friedan (born February 4, 1921 in Peoria, Illinois) is an American feminist, social activist and writer.

While young, she was active in Marxist and radical Jewish circles. She graduated with top honors in 1942, but declined graduate fellowships to be a homemaker. Later, she presented herself as a housewife who had realized that homemaking was not fulfilling. Her book, published in 1963, The Feminine Mystique depicted the roles of women in industrial societies and became a feminist bestseller. Friedan was invited to academic positions. Friedan's other books include, The Second Stage, which she wrote under a less radical position, It Changed My Life, and recently The Fountain of Age.

Friedan cofounded the U.S. National Organization for Women and was its first president (1966-70). She is counted as one of the most influential feminists of the late 20th Century.