{"id":1716833,"date":"2022-10-30T06:30:07","date_gmt":"2022-10-30T10:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1716833"},"modified":"2022-10-30T08:57:56","modified_gmt":"2022-10-30T12:57:56","slug":"naomi-schaefer-riley-why-60-years-of-feminism-has-not-made-women-any-happier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/naomi-schaefer-riley-why-60-years-of-feminism-has-not-made-women-any-happier\/","title":{"rendered":"Naomi Schaefer Riley: Why 60 Years of Feminism Has Not Made Women Any Happier"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnaomi-schaefer-riley-why-60-years-of-feminism-has-not-made-women-any-happier%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1716833&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>In February, we will mark the 60th anniversary of Betty Friedan\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Feminine-Mystique-50th-Anniversary-ebook\/dp\/B007R9CH3U\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=31LB5GPBZ34J4&#038;keywords=feminine+mystique&#038;qid=1666798841&#038;qu=eyJxc2MiOiIyLjIwIiwicXNhIjoiMS42NCIsInFzcCI6IjEuNjkifQ%3D%3D&#038;sprefix=feminine+mystique%2Caps%2C70&#038;sr=8-1&#038;tag=nypost-20&#038;asc_refurl=https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/10\/29\/why-60-years-of-feminism-has-not-made-women-any-happier\/&#038;asc_source=web\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Feminine Mystique<\/a>.\u201d But given the state of modern feminism, it\u2019s hard to imagine there will be much celebration.<\/p>\n<p>Friedan\u2019s work, which revealed women\u2019s lack of fulfillment as homemakers, laid out the goals of second-wave feminism. Now that women had achieved the right to vote, own property and get an education (the first wave), Friedan and her cohorts argued that women should pursue higher education and careers as a way of achieving personal satisfaction.\u00a0Others, like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Germaine-Greer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Germaine Greer<\/a>, wrote that the sexual repression of women prevented them from becoming personally fulfilled. But thanks to the pill and changing mores about sex outside of marriage, women could finally achieve the freedom and happiness that had been available to men for millennia.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/betty-friedan2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/betty-friedan2.jpg\" alt=\"In February, author Betty Friedan\u2019s landmark book \u201cFeminine Mystique\u201d will celebrate its 60th anniversary.\" class=\"wp-image-24426120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/betty-friedan2.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/betty-friedan2.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/betty-friedan2.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>In February, author Betty Friedan\u2019s landmark book \u201cFeminine Mystique\u201d will celebrate its 60th anniversary. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Bettmann Archive<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So how\u2019s that working out now? The <a href=\"https:\/\/media.deseret.com\/media\/misc\/pdf\/afs\/2022-american-family-survey.pdf?_ga=2.89153947.1047213585.1666799185-449363941.1666799185\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">American Family Survey<\/a> recently asked: \u201cAll things considered, has feminism benefited American families?\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Only a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/feminism1.pdf\">little more than half (58.6%)<\/a> of respondents said yes. What\u2019s interesting, though, is the people who said yes also tend to be among the least happy and fulfilled. In survey after survey, it turns out that people who espouse a secular worldview, people who identify as liberals, and people who never attend religious services report the lowest levels of personal satisfaction, but they also report the highest levels of support for feminist ideals. Indeed, as feminism\u2019s influence has grown over the past half century, women have become less happy.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/bra-burning.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"903\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/bra-burning.jpg\" alt=\"Throughout the 1970s, women protested for equal rights in the boardroom and the bedroom \u2014 five decades later, equality has not necessarily translated into happiness.\" class=\"wp-image-24426131\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/bra-burning.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1354 1354w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/bra-burning.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=903 903w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/bra-burning.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=451 451w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/bra-burning.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Throughout the 1970s, women protested for equal rights in the boardroom and the bedroom \u2014 five decades later, equality has not necessarily translated into happiness. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Bettmann Archive<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If feminism promised personal satisfaction, it doesn\u2019t seem to be delivering it.<\/p>\n<p>In order to understand this failure, it\u2019s probably best to look at how feminist leaders wanted to achieve personal fulfillment. Primarily they believed that if men took over more domestic responsibility \u2014 housework and child care \u2014 women would have more time and energy to achieve what they wanted in the workplace. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/pink-hats.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/pink-hats.jpg\" alt=\"Women march for their rights in 2017. Increasingly, the younger generations except socialism to solve the problem of gender inequality.\" class=\"wp-image-24426135\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/pink-hats.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/pink-hats.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/pink-hats.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Women march for their rights in 2017. Increasingly, the younger generations except socialism to solve the problem of gender inequality. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Corbis via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But frankly, given the whole patriarchal structure of the nuclear family, many feminists would have been happy to dispense with traditional marriage altogether. If that happened, and women still <em>did<\/em> want to bear children (something many feminists did not encourage), well, someone was still going to have to support them. And so feminist leaders also demanded more government support for women. <\/p>\n<p>As political commentator Ellie Mae O\u2019Hagan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2019\/mar\/08\/celebrate-international-womens-day-why-not-join-union\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote for The Guardian<\/a> a few years ago, \u201cOnly by diminishing the power of the boss class, and giving female workers more access to collectively owned social goods, can we ensure that no woman is forced to choose between sexual and economic exploitation, and poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/online-dating.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/online-dating.jpg\" alt=\"While sexual freedom allows everyone more romantic choices today, many are left bouncing from one relationship to another.\" class=\"wp-image-24426137\" width=\"618\" height=\"411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/online-dating.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1233 1236w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/online-dating.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=925 927w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/online-dating.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=618 618w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/online-dating.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=308 309w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/online-dating.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>While sexual freedom allows everyone more romantic choices today, many are left bouncing from one relationship to another. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Shutterstock\/New Africa<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But even feminists who don\u2019t wear their socialism on their sleeves believe that women should have more access to government-funded childcare and paid family leave in order to fulfill their dreams. Books like\u00a0\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Overwhelmed-Work-Love-Play-When\/dp\/1250062381\/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=overwhelmed+brigid+schulte&#038;qid=1666799711&#038;qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjUwIiwicXNhIjoiMS4xMSIsInFzcCI6IjEuNTQifQ%3D%3D&#038;sprefix=Overwhelmed+bri%2Caps%2C66&#038;sr=8-1&#038;tag=nypost-20&#038;asc_refurl=https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/10\/29\/why-60-years-of-feminism-has-not-made-women-any-happier\/&#038;asc_source=web\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Overwhelmed<\/a>\u201d\u00a0by Brigid Schulte and\u00a0\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Opting-Back-Really-Happens-Mothers\/dp\/0520290801\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=M976GJUHCMN9&#038;keywords=Opting+Back+In%E2%80%9D+by+Pamela+Stone+and+Meg+Lovejoy&#038;qid=1666799731&#038;qu=eyJxc2MiOiItMC4wMiIsInFzYSI6IjAuMDAiLCJxc3AiOiIwLjAwIn0%3D&#038;sprefix=opting+back+in+by+pamela+stone+and+meg+lovejoy%2Caps%2C67&#038;sr=8-1&#038;tag=nypost-20&#038;asc_refurl=https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/10\/29\/why-60-years-of-feminism-has-not-made-women-any-happier\/&#038;asc_source=web\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Opting Back In<\/a>\u201d\u00a0by Pamela Stone and Meg Lovejoy or most recently\u00a0\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Ambitious-Like-Mother-Prioritizing-Career\/dp\/0316429759\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=GUCQCTPPCKKV&#038;keywords=Ambitious+Like+a+Mother%E2%80%9D+by+Lara+Bazelon&#038;qid=1666799752&#038;qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjAxIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&#038;sprefix=ambitious+like+a+mother+by+lara+bazelon+%2Caps%2C65&#038;sr=8-1&#038;tag=nypost-20&#038;asc_refurl=https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/10\/29\/why-60-years-of-feminism-has-not-made-women-any-happier\/&#038;asc_source=web\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Ambitious Like a Mother<\/a>\u201d\u00a0by Lara Bazelon all end with similar admonitions that in order for women to get what they want out of work and life, the US should become more like Sweden or Norway.<\/p>\n<p>And yet, just as men have been contributing more to housework and child care since the early days of feminism, the government has also been doing a lot more to support mothers. It\u2019s true we don\u2019t have universal day care but we do subsidize the income of working class and poor single mothers to a much greater extent than we used to. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/working-mom.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/working-mom.jpg\" alt=\"Even with boosted government support, mothers \u2014 especially single mothers \u2014 have never been more stressed out or financially challenged.\" class=\"wp-image-24426151\" width=\"618\" height=\"411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/working-mom.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1233 1236w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/working-mom.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=925 927w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/working-mom.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=618 618w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/working-mom.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=308 309w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/working-mom.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Even with boosted government support, mothers \u2014 especially single mothers \u2014 have never been more stressed out or financially challenged.  <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Shutterstock\/Dollydoll29<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So why hasn\u2019t this help contributed to women being happier? Why, if anything, do women seem less happy and more \u201coverwhelmed\u201d than they were in the 1960s?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 1963, Betty Friedan was writing about \u201cthe problem that had no name.\u201d But women\u2019s problems in the 21st century can absolutely be named. More often, they are trying to raise children on their own, which can be exhausting even with financial resources. They are sexually liberated, but that often means they are going from one relationship to another without any sense of financial security or emotional stability. And while many are no doubt fulfilled in their careers, a lot of them actually enjoy raising children, but they can\u2019t spend the bulk of their time doing this, thanks to financial exigencies and society\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n<p>Friedan noticed in her day that some housewives were being prescribed \u201chappy pills\u201d to get them through the day. But according to the most recent statistics, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/why-so-many-middle-aged-women-are-on-antidepressants-11648906393\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">one in five women<\/a> between 40 and 59 are taking antidepressants. They are more than twice as likely to be on these drugs than men. Maybe feminism has lost its mystique.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Naomi Schaefer Riley is the author of \u201c<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/No-Way-Treat-Child-Activists\/dp\/164293657X?tag=nypost-20&#038;asc_refurl=https%3A%2F%2Fnypost.com%2F2022%2F06%2F07%2Fprogressives-think-money-solves-everything-even-dysfunctional-families%2F&#038;asc_source=web\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\"><em>No Way to Treat a Child: How the Foster Care System, Family Courts, and Racial Activists Are Wrecking Young Lives<\/em><\/a>.<em>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In February, we will mark the 60th anniversary of Betty Friedan\u2019s \u201cFeminine Mystique.\u201d But given the state of modern feminism, it\u2019s hard to imagine there will be much<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1716838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1716833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1716833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1716838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1716833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1716833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1716833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}