RESEARCH PAPER ON THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE IN THE AMERICAN CULTURE

Feminine Mystique in the American Culture

Introduction

Women are expected to perform their domestic roles under the American culture. As such they become enslaved of domestication and most often are deprived of the opportunity to find their identity. Women who merely settled for their housewives roles manifest the predicament of American women. Because of this, Americans have embraced the Friedan’s ideas and imagery of women as dehumanized victims. It truthfully depicted their personal lives and can be considered as an effective tool for liberation.

            However, the emergence of the new generation of women led to the  realization of  the need to engage in activities outside marriage and motherhood to find self identity. Women are increasingly breaking out from the norms and expectations of their society. The post war period illustrated the changing role of women as they become wage earning individuals. The American culture and society has been reshaped as women integrate roles outside the family

Still, such changes have contributed little in improving the social and economic status of women. Even now, contemporary women are faced with the conflicting terms of performing multiple roles. They are somewhat conflicted with their domestic responsibilities as they fulfill the desire to develop their potentials.

In this sense, contemporary women are conflicted between the society’s expectation and their personal desire to improve their identity.

 

 

Familial Roles of Women

The enormous consensus on the propriety of marrying has confined women to domestic roles in the American culture. The social penalties of not marrying weighed heavily for women as compared to men. American women became worried of the anxieties brought about by spinsterhood. The war left single women with limited educational and occupational opportunities and thus marriage appeared to be the most viable option for them. Both sexes are drawn to the aisle bowing to uphold social conventions. Marriage becomes a legitimate path out of their home especially to women. They saw marriage as the logical route to get out of their own family ().

The analogy of comfortable concentration camps to women has been accepted as a description of the lives of American women. This analogy confirmed the understanding of women of their own predicament. As Friedan wrote, "the women who 'adjust' as housewives, who grow up wanting to be 'just a housewife,' are in as much danger as the millions who walked to their own death in the concentration camps.... “() .The central argument was the American cultural outlets including women’s magazines, colleges and advertising industry exalting the feminine mystique as mothers and housewives at home. The growth of women is suppressed by this mystique, confining them to their homes and domestic lives. American women can grow through the resistance of such mystique and the breaking away from the life of domesticity.

Many women eagerly embraced the Friedan’s ideas believing that her image of a dehumanized victim depict their personal lives. These women described their housewives role as “victims”, “trapped” or “servile”. Friedan presented arguments that are effective tool for liberation. The analogy did not only illustrate the prevalent status of women but also the need to recognize their worth outside their domestic roles. They spoke truthfully enough to inspire women at that time and since ().

In the final chapter “Progressive Dehumanization: The Comfortable Concentration Camp”, it was argued that domestication denied women of their humanity. Friedan claimed suburban women as dependent, passive and childlike. They gave up their adult frame of reference by living at the lower human level of food and things. According to , these kinds of work  do not require adult capabilities since it is endless, monotonous and unrewarding (). Moreover, dependent women are likely to become parasitic who preyed upon their husbands and children. American women have come to internalize their inferiority and turned their aggression to their loved ones and even to themselves like inmates of dehumanized concentration camps.

            The new generation of women eventually sensed the boredom and bitterness of mothers . They moved towards a radical movement as the result of their resistance to the same roles. The feminist novel Burning Questions by  (1978) depicted the generation gap that separated the sixties generation from their parents. The shallow conformity and the emptiness of materialism that thrive in her middle class suburban family provoked the heroine of the novel. Ultimately, she explored the burning questions of her lifetime by joining a women’s group (. ).

These women as well as the elders of the baby boom formed the women’s liberation movement. They found themselves confronting the contradictions of their aspirations and the subordinate status with men in the movement and in their jobs. Young women have joined the women’s liberation movement regardless of their age. They are reinforced in their personal acquaintance with the power of the Feminine Mystique. This may be in the form of their mothers or the cultural symbol of motherhood during the fifties.

            Moreover, the generation gap became more complicated  for daughters as they reject the world their mother lived to live out dreams of their own. Many mothers lost their sense of identity and lived through the lives of their husband and children. They forfeited their careers and political ideals for the comfort of their homes. Some of them have not even make dreams for their selves. Because of this, daughters of the fifties have come to recognize the need for independent identity which challenged the feminine mystique’s emphasis on motherhood. The fear of being an ordinary housewife can then be considered as the main drive behind female generation gap ().

Increasingly, women discovered the need to find a self identity and break out from social conventions. In the ’s book, “From Front Porch to the Back Seat: Courtship in 20^th Century America, dating elicited shock when it emerged after the turn of the century. Until that decade, women are pursued by men through courtship. Men typically court a woman by calling on her and her parents at their homes. The intent during those days was marriage and the courtship was so structured. Numerous rules govern everything from the proper amount of time to be spent and the appropriate topics for conversations (, 1997). However, the birth of cities in the early period of the 20^th century changed such procedures. The excitement and the freedom associated with the cities lured many children. Thus the power went to the women who are once controlled by the particulars of the courting call to the man ().

            These changes manifest the desire to liberate women’s role in the society. The ambitions to achieve identity became associated with doing something outside marriage and motherhood. The early sixties marked the turning pint in the role of American women in the family and the society. Middle class American women from 1950s to the 70s turned to become wage earning to contribute to the family life. They have reshaped the American family, the labor force and the society in general. More and more women until their late fifties became more likely to be employed ().

Women integrated a role outside their homes into their family lives amid the early marriages and the expectations for their domestic roles. The employment of women had important ramification not only in the workplace but in the American society in general. The hiring of women during the wartime resulted to  better paid industrial positions paid to women as well as in loosening the cultural barriers against women employees. However, the employment advances during the war did not at all improve the status of women as workers. Neither did it result to a lasting commitment with the government to solve the dilemmas of working mothers.

Moreover, women are guided by conflicting terms. Like everybody else, they want to develop their personalities to the full while some want a home and develop a family. Marriage and child bearing has become the main source of identity and prestige for most women. The society through husbands, friends and kin dictates that women must be paragons of domesticity. Women still confront conflicting expectations even if they can be career oriented (). The dilemma they faced is not employment but how to combine it with motherhood. The problem is how to mesh their familial roles in the course of their lives since they continue to be the principal caretakers for the children. It remains debatable whether contemporary women who combine these roles are better off than the traditional full time housewives of the 1950s.

Conclusion

The American culture kept the domestic and passive roles of women as stay home mothers. Because of this, women are regarded as subordinates and are confined to perform activities within the marriage and motherhood roles. It is no surprise that women have settled merely to these housewife roles. However, the new generation of women has shown resistance to these same roles. Women are increasingly realizing the need to break the enslaved status they hold by confronting the contradictions of their dreams with their subordinate status. Thus, the emphasis of the feminine mystique on motherhood is challenged. Ultimately, contemporary women still face the challenge of juggling their roles in the family in their quest for self identity.

 

References:

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