This book review was written by Eugene Kernes
“The second stage cannot be seen in terms of women alone, our separate personhood or equality with men. | The second stage involves coming to new terms with the family – new terms with love and with work. | The second stage may not even be a women’s movement. Men may be at the cutting edge of the second stage. | The second stage has to transcend the battle for equal power in institutions. The second stage will restructure institutions and transform the nature of power itself.” – Betty Friedan, Chapter, Page 28
“And so, new questions have to be asked about women’s experience today that may have been hidden or unanticipated by feminist assumptions. These questions couldn’t be asked before – and experts, including feminists, can’t answer them yet – because women simply didn’t have the same choices before.” – Betty Friedan, Chapter 2: The Half-Life of Reaction, Page 71
“On the emotional bottom line, younger women are
shortchanging their own personhood, perpetuating old dilemmas or engaging in
the wrong power battles because of their blind spot about the family. Even if women do not lose heart for the
battle, as they surely will, there is no way out of the deadlock, the impasse,
if we keep on fighting, even thinking, in terms of women alone, or women
against men.” – Betty Friedan, Chapter 3: The Family as New Feminist Frontier,
Page 83
Is This An Overview?
The first stage was about women getting power parity with men. Showing that women can do more than just be housewives. But as women entered the workforce, there was a clash between work and family. Between work and any other pursuits. The second stage is about the changing roles of work and family, to find better alternative ways on how to be. The second stage is about reconciling demands of independence with emotional needs.
Women and men need each other for emotional, financial, and
other needs. When someone is dependent
on someone else, psychological insecurities develop that make any relationship
difficult. Those who lack independence,
tend to lack confidence in themselves, and take out their frustrations on the
one they are dependent on. When a woman
performed many household tasks and participated in supporting the man’s
ambition, women did not receive the monetary benefits or recognition for their
efforts, while the men could not function without the support. When the man was the sole monetary earner,
the man was extremely anxious about job prospects, forcing them to stay at
terrible jobs. When men and women share
the monetary, family, and emotional burdens, they have higher chances of
economic survival and live more fulfilling lives.
Caveats?
This is a sensitive topic that shares the complexity of the situation. The second stage came about through new demands on social and economic life that needed a response. As society changes, so must the responses. Each society, each era, need to find their own responses to their different situations.
There are passages with various diverse perspectives that
provide evidence for claims. They can
provide addition explanations, but can lack a systemic analysis.
