What Do I Read Next?
- In her provocative book The Second Stage (1981), Friedan introduces the concept of a new mystique, termed the feminist mystique, which she believes is fueled by the superwoman stereotype—the notion that a woman can excel at everything. Friedan champions centering the family in women's lives and suggests implementing distinct standards for women and men, arguing that women cannot be expected to excel equally at both work and home.
- In The Masculine Mystique: The Politics of Masculinity (1995), Andrew Kimbrell contends that American men are experiencing a crisis. Similar to Friedan's work, Kimbrell's manifesto delves into men's history, examines sociological influences impacting men, and proposes a course of action to address the masculine mystique.
- In The Difference: Growing Up Female in America (1994), Washington Post columnist Judy Mann investigates the challenges of growing up female in the United States during the 1990s. Drawing from her personal experiences, interviews with teenage girls, and extensive historical and cultural research, Mann explores the various sociological pressures affecting girls and offers ideas for new approaches to raising both boys and girls.
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman's novella The Yellow Wallpaper (1899), inspired by events in her own life, stands as one of the most impactful works by early feminists. The story follows a protagonist confined to a third-floor room by her husband and physician, who believes her unhappiness can be remedied through isolation and lack of stimulation. However, as the narrative unfolds, the protagonist gradually loses her grip on reality, increasingly identifying with a woman she imagines living within the room's yellow wallpaper.
- In her essay A Room of One's Own (1929), Virginia Woolf argued that for women to attain the same level of greatness as male writers, they need both financial independence and privacy. Woolf also discusses how the idealized and powerful depictions of women in fiction have historically contrasted with the subjugated realities many women faced in their everyday lives.
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