Men and Women Successfully Exchange Roles

Betty Friedan, Alice Echols, and Ariel Levy, are all authors who offer varied perspectives of women’s struggles for equality. Each of these authors wrote in different time periods. Friedan’s article, “The Problem That Has No Name”, was written in 1963 and discusses the “second wave” of the Women’s Movement. Friedan notes that women are questioning themselves, “Is this all?” Is this because women are gaining an interest in education and careers outside of the home? “For over fifteen years there was no word of this yearning in the millions of words written about women, for women, in all the columns, books, and articles by experts telling women their role was to seek fulfillment as wives and mothers” (Friedan 570).

In 2005, approximately forty years after Friedan’s article, Ariel Levy reexamines the Women’s Movement. Levy points out that many attempts towards equality failed. The author further clarifies that some past feminists had been destructive in this movement. Levy explains that there were two early groups of feminists, antiporn feminists and pro-porn or “sex-positive feminist.” The Women’s Movement in the sixties and seventies became divided. Congress Passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but many women instead focused on their goals to achieve sexual freedom and pleasure. While Levy is often critical of feminism movements in the past and present, she offers limited solutions to resolve the continued inequality. Although women have no yet achieved true equality, the opportunities that exist today are far greater than before these movements began.

Tara Parker-Pope, a writer for The New York Times, explores the varied reasons why women choose to leave the house and pursue a career in her article, “She Works. They’re Happy.” “Ever since Betty Friedan urged women to leave the house and pursue careers, people have argued over whether women’s marriages and romantic prospects would suffer for it” (Parker-pope ST1). Parker-Pope elaborates on the emergence of financially successful women today. A report from the Pew Research Center recent Census data divulged that women are the primary breadwinners in 22 percent of couples. This has increased 15 percent since 1970. While it has been hypothesized that these couples would have a higher divorce rate than more traditional couples where the man is the breadwinner, this is not true. The author cites a 2009 report from the Center for American Progress that points out that married, educated women, who are economically independent, are less likely to get a divorce. Perhaps women, with equal opportunity, choose men of interest instead of men who offer economic security. I agree with Cait that Playboy and sexual scandals continue to make headlines but the progress that has been made should not be overlooked. While the rate of progress has been disappointing to some, it has moved in a positive direction.