Betty Friedan is either a liberator and creator of the vast second wave of feminism, or an oppressive, opportunistic person who simply represents a narrow demographic in the loudest way possible. Her book, The Feminine Mystique, has been used to both support and deny these claims. Supporters of her book say it is an important dissemination of the idea that women need something beyond children and a husband to be happy and satisfied with life.1 However, opponents, such as historian Joanne Meyerowitz, author of the book Beyond the Feminine Mystique: A Reassessment of Postwar Mass Culture, 1946-1958, states that not only did her book present blatantly false information, but its excessive focus on White, middle-class, suburban women did not impact women as a whole, as did the plight of working-class and racially marginalized women. have not been addressed2. Ultimately, like most arguments, the real answer seems to lie in the middle. Indeed, The Feminine Mystique may not apply to everyone. Daniel Horowitz, author of the article Rethinking Betty Friedan and the Feminine Mystique: Labor Union Radicalism and Feminism in America, and David Reynolds, author of the book One World Divisible: A Global History Since 1945, emphasize that her movement did not affect poor women, especially those who are not white, which was Betty Friedan's sole focus.3 However, Friedan's work ultimately impacted people as a whole, primarily because she chose the the most opportune time to publish it. The Cold War, which gave birth to America's fervor and promotion of freedom, made it impossible to ignore the call for oppression of middle-class women, much like the women's movement. civil rights. As a result, using the Cold War call for freedom and drawing lessons from...... middle of article ......l articles questioning the treatment of female workers, primarily focused on protecting their jobs and improving work 15 She then joined UE News, which had a left-wing orientation and quickly transformed her world into one marked by radicalism and a passion for justice for the working class and women, especially African-American women.15 In 1949, The Electrical Workers union followed the advice of the communist parties and began granting equal seniority to women and African-Americans. Friedan, Betty. The feminist mystique. New York. WW Norton. 1963.2. Horowitz, Daniel “Rethinking Betty Friedan and the Feminine Mystique: Labor Radicalism and Feminism in America.” American Quarterly, 48, No. 1. (1996) http://www.jstor.org/stable/300415203. Reynolds, David. A divisible world: a global history since 1945. New York. WW Norton.