Bye, Betty

Betty Friedan died today on her 85th birthday. I saw the women's movement pioneer and author of The Feminine Mystique speak here at Fountain Street Church sometime in the 80s. I remember it was standing-room only. I remember the general consensus afterward seemed to be that she was "over" the feminist movement and it was over her.

I read The Feminine Mystique, of course. My mother did not and I'm sure my teenaged daughters never will. Women have gained much since the 1963 best-seller was written, but we've lost some too. I can only shake my head (and bite my tongue) when my mother says to my daughters, "Your mother is a feminist, but I'm not." And they agree, saying they are not feminists, either.