being overly permissive or doting.

Friedan ultimately argues that the identity loss women endure under the feminine mystique is akin to the trauma experienced by prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. She refers to the home as the “comfortable concentration camp” for women. Friedan draws parallels between the “dehumanization” process described by psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim in his study of World War II concentration camps and the experiences of women under the feminine mystique. Like Nazi prisoners, women abandon their previous interests and commitments. They engage in monotonous tasks and form communities with others in similar situations. Initially, this community provides comfort, but it eventually leads to anonymity, reducing individuals to mere numbers. Those who accept their assigned roles are spiritually dead long before any physical demise. This metaphor illustrates that housewives, having surrendered their identities, are left with nothing to offer or teach their children. Mothers, who should be imparting identity to their children, instead look to their children to provide them with a sense of self.

Friedan concludes that the dissatisfaction of women and the difficulties their children face in adjusting to normal adolescent and young adult development indicate that women have outgrown the housewife role. Although Friedan never supported this role, she suggests that even functionalists might recognize that the role of the housewife no longer benefits the mother, the child, or the family as a whole.

The issue with enforcing the feminine mystique on women is that it restricts their growth, preventing them from broadening their knowledge, interests, and emotions over time. This mystique discourages personal development in favor of conforming to a predetermined female role. Friedan states: “Adjustment to a culture which does not permit the realization of one’s entire being is not a cure at all, according to the new psychological thinkers.” Both men and women cannot thrive under a uniform definition of what is important. Women, like men, need opportunities to extend beyond domestic life and discover what truly matters to them, whether through work or engaging with current global issues. Friedan suggests that while it may be too late to help women who are content as housewives, the increasing signs of frustration and discontent among many other housewives offer a good starting point to disrupt their complacency.

Historically, a woman's failure to “self-actualize” or develop her adult self has not been viewed as a problem but rather as a positive trait. However, the consequences of adhering to the feminine mystique often resemble the restricted world of mental patients—a world focused only on the day-to-day, devoid of long-term vision. Friedan argues that women must seize and engage with the future rather than remain confined to the present of domesticity. She outlines a hierarchy of human needs, emphasizing that in modern society, fulfillment through self-expression is essential. For women, sex has been an accepted form of self-expression, but it is not the entirety of their needs. In fact, women who have pursuits outside the home—such as careers, political interests, or serious endeavors—report greater satisfaction with sex and a better “adjustment” to marriage compared to those who seek fulfillment solely through sex, a partner, and domestic life.

Friedan references psychologist A. H. Maslow, noting that “dominant” (assertive, confident) women experience more happiness than their stereotypically mystique-driven “non-dominant” (passive, accommodating) counterparts in various aspects of life. Being dominant allows a woman to engage with others without letting her ego (or lack thereof) interfere. A dominant woman speaks her mind freely and does not modify her comments to appease others. She does not refrain from expressing her thoughts or actions just because they are deemed unfeminine. Consequently, she finds greater enjoyment in her marriage, sex life, child-rearing, career, and overall life compared to a woman who is guided by the feminine mystique to seek satisfaction only in her biological destiny.

Dominant women maintain a balanced perspective on the sensual pleasures of domestic life—such as food, sex, and the comforts of home and children—yet they enjoy these pleasures more intensely when they choose to focus on them, Friedan writes, attributing this insight to Maslow. Additionally, dominant women view their partners as separate individuals, fostering a healthier form of love compared to the merged identities and togetherness advocated by the feminine mystique. Friedan emphasizes that for women to fully realize their potential and live as adults, they must find meaningful work or interests outside their traditional feminine roles.

To break free from the constraints of the feminine mystique, women must first acknowledge its existence as a problem and confront this reality. Recognizing the issue is merely the beginning; women must then seek solutions. This involves finding meaningful work or interests to which they can fully commit, making long-term plans, and being willing to compete. More than just an occasional break, women need to make a genuine commitment to redefining their identities, starting by detaching them from housework—which should be seen as a series of tasks to be completed quickly rather than a vocation requiring talent. They must then place their marriage and family life in the right context—as important components of their lives, but not the entirety.

Having a job, ideally one that is paid, can significantly contribute to this transformation. However, it can't be just any job—it must be one that the woman feels passionate about or one that leads to a professional goal she plans to pursue as part of a long-term commitment. Volunteer work and artistic pursuits are also valid, but if they are treated merely as hobbies or never shared publicly, they lack the commitment Friedan deems essential. The journey of shifting one's identity from the feminine mystique to a personally defined future vision will be challenging. The feminine mystique will persist, and old friends, family members, and other women may disapprove.

Women must also mentally disengage from the resistance ingrained by the feminine mystique and, as they begin to implement the life changes they’ve chosen, make necessary adjustments at home. They can't maintain their former activities and continue to uphold the values of the feminine mystique that once guided them. Friedan illustrates this with the example of two housewives who took on jobs: one hired a maid to manage housework and continued working happily, while the other tried to juggle both her job and all the housework, feeling it was her duty. Ultimately, this second woman became exhausted and quit.

Ultimately, education is crucial for women who have been oppressed by the feminine mystique. Friedan suggests that women who were discouraged from thinking critically and completing their college education should be given a national GI Bill. This would enable them to return to college for meaningful academic pursuits, rather than courses designed around domestic skills like cooking, cleaning, and relationship optimization. Throughout the book's final chapters, she provides examples of women who have overcome the constraints of the feminine mystique. These women have taken numerous steps and embarked on long journeys to re-educate themselves or finish the schooling they abandoned in their youth. Although she acknowledges the difficulty of this process, she believes it will ultimately benefit both the women as individuals and society as a whole.

Analysis
In this section, Friedan examines the ultimate and most detrimental effects of the feminine mystique, noting its harmful impact on a new generation of both young women and young men. The feminine mystique strips women of their identity, never allowing them to develop personal characteristics or make choices that foster a sense of self. Consequently, these women become perpetuators of the feminine mystique. Without meaning in their own lives, they overly depend on their children's everyday successes and failures for a sense of fulfillment, which unfortunately, remains elusive. Friedan argues that if mothers rely too much on their children to fulfill their own need for purpose, these children struggle immensely to grow into independent adults.

The mothers ensnared by the feminine mystique live in a childlike world where they are prisoners of the homes they are taught to cherish. They serve their spouses and children but neglect their own needs. The theories of Bruno Bettelheim and A. H. Maslow both recognize that adults must maintain and evolve their identities through active engagement with their environments. Bettelheim discussed this necessity in terms of what gives individuals their humanity and what they must do within society to preserve their sense of self. Maslow emphasized the importance of discovering one's passions and priorities as essential for personal growth. Both theorists, like Friedan, suggest that passive engagement or vicarious interests are insufficient for personal development. People need to make choices, take risks, and compete to feel truly alive.

Friedan argues that the feminine mystique destroys women's spirit and identity using psychological manipulation akin to the brainwashing techniques employed by Nazis in concentration camps. The repercussions for women are severe, including suffering, suicide attempts, depression, a lack of vitality, and envy of their partners and children. The societal consequences are even graver: the new generation of children is unable to make their own decisions or take their own risks. How could they, when their mothers never did? Young women see no other "choice" but to follow the path of the previous generation: finding a mate, marrying, and having children.

Friedan argues that the feminine mystique must be recognized and challenged by every woman affected by it, allowing her to heal and reclaim her lost identity—often taken from her at an early age. Studies indicate that "dominant" or proactive women experience greater happiness in all the areas that the feminine mystique promised as rewards for their "femininity" (passivity). These dominant women find more satisfaction in their marriages, daily lives, sexual relationships, and connections with their children.

Moreover, such women play active roles in their communities and have personal "life plans" or goals that are independent of their spouses' or children's ambitions. They reject the notion that "togetherness"—the surrender of their identity in favor of their partners or children—is the sole reward for being a woman. Friedan acknowledges that the path ahead for women will be challenging because the mystique is deeply ingrained and psychological. Additionally, many people still desire its continuation, either out of fear of the changes that will occur when women evolve or because women themselves fear the arduous journey ahead. However, Friedan suggests that this hard work is far more manageable than living under the falsehoods of the feminine mystique.