The Problem With No Name

The Feminine Mystique - Betty Friedan
"We can no longer ignore that voice within women that says: 'I want something more than my husband and my children and my home.'"

This is the problem with no name - the fact that in the 50s and 60s, women, housewives in particular, were deep in widespread unhappiness, even in the face of seeming material comfort and having a family. In this era American culture was persistent in denying there was anything more that a woman needed besides a husband to support and children to give birth to and raise.

In class on Friday we watched an episode of "Mad Men," which portrayed this problem with no name. Don and Betty Draper have two children, a nice house, and Don has a nice job with a comfortable paycheck. Yet, Betty displays physiological signs of psychological distress. Even her doctors and specialists suggest that the recurring numbness in her hands is a manifestation of mental illness, and urge her to see a psychiatrist. Upon telling this news to her husband, Don scorns the suggestion and says, "Doctors must love that they finally have an answer for 'I don't know what's wrong.'" After assuming for half the episode that Betty has everything she could ever want and no reason to be unhappy, Don tries buying Betty an expensive watch to see if it will cheer her up, to no avail. He agrees to take her to a psychiatrist, only to intrude on the privacy of the meeting that night by calling the doctor to discuss his wife's appointment.

Betty certainly displays the feminine mystique - she has everything that the culture of the day said she needed to be happy; and yet, she remains feeling depressed, confused, and guilty for feeling these things.

As far as the broader cultural significance, I think this changed our view of the "nuclear family," meaning a wife who stays at home and takes care of the two children while the husband brings home a paycheck. More and more women are getting college degrees now, and more and more men are becoming stay-at-home dads. For instance, this past year more women graduated with a master's degree than men did.

I don't think the feminine mystique affects women as much today. Women have so many more opportunities today than back then. Now, it's not taboo to be depressed. It's not forbidden for a woman to get an education and a career. It's not frowned upon for a woman to have a career and a family. However, I see women going back to school after years of raising a family. For example, my mom went to get her doctorate in education my junior year of high school and graduated this past May. My father's highest educational achievement is a master's degree. My mom had always wanted a doctorate, but put it on hold to raise my brother and me. All in all, though, I think this problem with no name has greatly diminished in prevalence.