The Feminine Mystique
New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1963.
First edition, first printing. 410 pp. Bound in publisher's boards over black spine lettered in gilt. Very Good with bookplate on paste down, former owner's name written on front free endpaper, clear dampstain to pages 9 & 10. In Very Good dust jacket, hipped at head and tail with short tears, a little sunning to spine panel, unclipped ($5.95).
Fifteen years after graduating from Smith College, Friedan was tasked with surveying her fellow all-female alumni. Curiously, she found that despite having children and enjoying material comforts, many of the women she spoke to were unhappy in their role as housewives. She coined the phrase "feminine mystique" to highlight the prevalent assumption that a "feminine" woman would be completely fulfilled by domestic life and not seek anything more, such as education, work, or even have political opinions. Shining a floodlight on women's previously-hidden problems, Friedan takes aim at society's structural sexism and urges women to find fulfillment outside of the domestic realm that engages their full mental capacity. The Feminine Mystique is credited with sparking the second wave of feminism in the United States, and is considered one of the most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century.
Price: $700.00