Who Said "Who Knows What Women Can be When They are Finally Free to Become Themselves"

Betty Friedan, the famous writer and woman’s activist was the one who said, “Who knows what women can be when they are finally free to become themselves.” She published this quote in The Feminine Mystique, the text that sparked the new feminist movement in 1963.

The women’s movement that began in the 1960s was one of the unseen consequences of World War II. During the war effort, men all across the country joined the military to defeat the Axis powers. As a result, many companies suffered personnel shortages. To support their country and themselves, many women joined the workforce, gaining careers and identities outside the home. After the men returned from war, many women were forced out of the job market.

At a Smith College alumni reunion in 1942, Betty Friedan noted how unhappy many of her female classmates seemed as many women only had status and identity through their husbands or children. This realization spurred Friedan to research the topic of women’s identity. She interviewed women and performed other qualitative investigations to determine how women’s identities formed over time.

Betty Friedan was the one who said, “Who knows what women can be when they are finally free to become themselves," in the book, The Feminine Mystique, which reports the results of her informal investigation. The book and her work were met with some support and some criticism. Many women found justification for their unhappiness in her book. However, critics panned her lack of scientific rigor because much of her work cannot be recreated. She also focused exclusively on the plight of middle-class white women and ignored some pro-feminist ideology that was being published in mainstream magazines.