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Betty Friedan, christened Bettye Naomi Goldstein, was born on February 4, 1921, in Peoria, Illinois, to Jewish parents.

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She wrote for her High School newspaper.

As the editor-in-chief of the college newspaper, she used the medium to promote social and political issues such as anti-war and Marxist views.

She received a fellowship from the ‘University of California’ in Berkeley, to work along with famous psychologist Erik Ericsson. However, her increasing involvement with political issues took her to New York, where she delved into the world of journalism.

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In 1957, she conducted a survey of college graduates. She focused on women’s thoughts on education and careers, and wrote articles that discussed the problems faced by them in daily life.

Women, who had to forego their education and career for the sake of families, identified with her survey.

She researched more on the topic and authored her first book ‘The Feminine Mystique’ in 1963.

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In 1966, she founded the ‘National Organization for Women’ (NOW) and became its first President.

She campaigned fiercely for the equality of women and lobbied for legal rights.

In the 1970s, ‘NOW’, under her leadership lobbied strongly for the Equal Rights Amendment and brought it into implementation. =

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On 26th August 1970, on the she organised the ‘Women’s Strike for Equality’. An estimated 20,000 women were led down the streets of New York City by her, in support of equal job opportunities and child care centres.

In 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion and Freidan went ahead to form the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws.

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She married Carl Freidan, who was a theatre producer, in 1947. They had three children, Daniel, Emily and Jonathan, but she separated from Carl after twenty two years.

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In one of her famous books, this outspoken feminist compared housewifery to Nazi concentration camps. According to her, both housewives and concentration camp victims lost their identities and became dehumanized.

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Men are not the enemy, but the fellow victims. The real enemy is women's denigration of themselves.

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The feminine mystique has succeeded in burying millions of American women alive.