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Biographical approaches to historical study often exhibit great popularity among the broader public, however, their utility as a lens into history sparks debate among scholars. Useful in placing individuals in historical context or exploring intellectual ferment, biography often fails to more fully illuminate broader issues, while simultaneously reifying the “great man” or “great woman” approach to history.
Daniel Horowitz’s [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1558491686/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1558491686&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=5d543e73214aafe431e8649994d6d853 Betty Friedan and the Making of the Feminine Mystique] attempts to reevaluate the intellectual and political underpinnings of Friedan’s feminist thought and more specifically, the experiences and ideas that shaped her classic 1963 work The Feminine Mystique. Friedan’s construction of how she came to author her 1963 work differs greatly with Horowitz’s research. Often cryptic about her work experience for various union publications such as the United Electrical and Machine Workers (UE) and Federated Press, Friedan obscured such experiences explaining her awakening as “cathartic” but unconnected to her time as a labor journalist. Moreover, despite her own written contributions to women’s magazines of the period, Friedan argued that such media created the feminine mystique in which she found herself trapped. Thus, Friedan’s “awakening” appears non-political, non-radical, and self-driven.
====What shaped Betty Friedan's worldview?====
