The Feminine Mystique

About this book

A 50th-anniversary edition of the trailblazing book that changed womens lives with a new introduction by Gail Collins. Landmark groundbreaking classicthese adjectives barely do justice to the pioneering vision and lasting impact of The Feminine Mystique. Published in 1963 it gave a pitch-perfect description of the problem that has no name: the insidious beliefs and institutions that undermined womens confidence in their intellectual capabilities and kept them in the home. Writing in a time when the average woman first married in her teens and 60 percent of women students dropped out of college to marry Betty Friedan captured the frustrations and thwarted ambitions of a generation and showed women how they could reclaim their lives. Part social chronicle part manifesto The Feminine Mystique is filled with fascinating anecdotes and interviews as well as insights that continue to inspire. This 50thanniversary edition features an afterword by best-selling author Anna Quindlen as well as a new introduction by Gail Collins.