Special Poll:
Betty Friedan and Sexual Politics

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On February 4, 2006, feminist author Betty Friedan passed away at the age of 85. Her 1963 book, The Feminine Mystique, was seminal in its frontal assault on the modern woman as defined exclusively by her husband and family; the book offered women what was at the time the radical notion that women could and should have identities apart from that of wife and mother. Within several years, she had co-founded the National Organization for Women and later served as its president.

She came, however, to be a critic of what she described as "sexual politics": she came to use the word "distorted" to describe its effect on the women's movement. To some, she was a moderating voice in this regard; to others, she was unable to understand that the women's movement was at least in part defined by that sexual politics.

Whatever judgment should be rendered upon her ultimate contribution to the women's movement, she was unarguably profound in her influence, both on women and on the society in which they live.

The poll offered here seeks your view on Betty Friedan's critique of sexual politics and its effect on the women's movement. The scope of responses is narrow in order to define four relatively broad categories of sentiment regarding the question posed.

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Betty Friedan and the Consequence of Sexual Politics