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111-439: In 1957, Friedan was asked to conduct a survey of her former Smith College classmates for their 15th anniversary reunion; the results, in which she found that many of them were unhappy with their lives as housewives, prompted her to begin research for The Feminine Mystique , conducting interviews with other suburban housewives, as well as researching psychology, media, and advertising. She originally intended to create an article on

222-404: A sit-in organized by the group Students for Social Justice and Institutional Change outside of John M. Greene Hall. The coalition presented a broad list of demands to the administration, proposing reform to many sectors of campus life, including curriculum, health and counseling services, accessibility, policing, admissions policies, and affinity housing. In response to the demands, Smith launched

333-411: A trans woman named Calliope Wong. In the rejection letter, Smith's Dean of Admission Debra Shaver wrote "Your FAFSA indicates your gender as male. Therefore, Smith cannot process your application." This policy was changed in 2013 to only require all nonlegal application materials to indicate a female identity, including references. Not satisfied with the change, students as well as various alumni formed

444-736: A certificate of graduate studies or a diploma in American studies. Each year approximately 100 men and women pursue advanced graduate work at Smith. Also offered as a non-degree studies program is the Diploma in American Studies. This is a highly competitive one-year program open only to international students of advanced undergraduate or graduate standing. It is designed primarily, although not exclusively, for those who are teaching or who plan to teach some aspect of American culture and institutions. The Smith College School for Social Work

555-535: A defining moment in a series of transitions toward a mature female sexuality . In Freudian theory, the penis envy stage begins the transition from attachment to the mother to competition with the mother for the attention and affection of the father. The young boy's realization that women do not have a penis is thought to result in castration anxiety . Freud's theory on penis envy was criticized and debated by other psychoanalysts, such as Karen Horney , Ernest Jones , Helene Deutsch , and Melanie Klein , specifically on

666-592: A factory worker, a clerk, or a prostitute than to be a leisure-class housewife. She made her plight and the plight of white women like herself synonymous with a condition affecting all American women. In so doing, she deflected attention away from her classism, her racism, her sexist attitudes towards the masses of American women. In the context of her book, Friedan makes clear that the women she saw as victimized by sexism were college-educated white women". Friedan has also been criticized for prejudice against homosexuality . In part, this criticism stems from her adherence to

777-430: A post-baccalaureate year of math study to women who did not major in mathematics as undergraduates or whose mathematics major was not strong. The Louise W. and Edmund J. Kahn Liberal Arts Institute supports collaborative research without regard to the traditional boundaries of academic departments and programs. Each year the institute supports long-term and short-term projects proposed, planned, and organized by members of

888-560: A prominent functionalist, had a flourishing career as an anthropologist. Chapter 7 : Friedan discusses the change in women's education from the 1940s to the early 1960s, in which many women's schools concentrated on non-challenging classes that focused mostly on marriage, family, and other subjects deemed suitable for women, as educators influenced by functionalism felt that too much education would spoil women's femininity and capacity for sexual fulfillment. Friedan says that this change in education arrested girls in their emotional development at

999-445: A result, The Feminine Mystique had substantial impact on a wide range of political activists, thinkers, and ordinary individuals." By the year 2000, The Feminine Mystique had sold over 3 million copies and had been translated into many foreign languages. On February 22 and 23, 2013, a symposium titled React: The Feminine Mystique at 50 , co-sponsored by The New School for Public Engagement and The Parsons School of Design ,

1110-476: A rock garden and historic glass greenhouses dating back to 1895. The botanic garden formerly featured a Japanese tea hut, which was removed in October 2015 following concerns over "issues of safety and vandalism." Smith offers "panel discussions and seminars for lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students on subjects such as coming out as transgender at work." In 2003, Smith students voted to remove pronouns from

1221-514: A secret staircase where, according to legend, the Hunt's eldest daughter Lucy would rendezvous with her lover, General Burgoyne . The two were ultimately driven apart, and in the 1880s it was believed the ghost of a heartbroken Burgoyne haunted the staircase. Since Sessions House became part of college housing in the 20th century, the specter has taken on a decidedly feminine identity, and some former residents of Sessions claim to have seen Lucy's ghost in

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1332-439: A settlement in exchange for my silence, but I turned it down". On February 22, Smith College published a letter from President Kathleen McCartney alleging that an unnamed former employee had accused the college of "creating a racially hostile environment for white people, a baseless claim that the college flatly denies," and that "it was the employee herself who demanded payment of an exceptionally large sum in exchange for dropping

1443-503: A space for other cultural organizations. Today, Unity House serves as a home to the 11 cultural organizations on campus. Two recent additions to the campus, both of which enhance its sense of community, are the architecturally dramatic Julia McWilliams Child '34 Campus Center and the state-of-the-art Olin Fitness Center. In 2009, construction was also completed on Ford Hall, a new science and engineering facility. According to

1554-512: A threatened legal claim and agreeing to standard confidentiality provisions." McCartney affirmed that the college's "commitment to, and strategies for, advancing equity and inclusion are grounded in evidence." On February 24, 2021, the New York Times reported on worsening tensions between students, staff, and administrators around issues of racial justice and the college's diversity training. President McCartney stated that "Good training

1665-418: A typical suburban housewife, she was involved with radical politics and labor journalism in her youth, and during the time she wrote The Feminine Mystique she worked as a freelance journalist for women's magazines and as a community organizer. The W. W. Norton publishing house, where Betty Friedan's work was initially circulated to be published as a book also generated some criticism. In fact an employee under

1776-695: A woman, check the "female" box when applying and that the President establish a working group to support all trans and non-binary students at Smith. These recommendations went to the faculty and the Board of Trustees and in 2015, Smith announced a new policy that only required female identification on the common application. Under the policy, transgender men and non-binary or genderqueer applicants are not eligible for admission. This new policy also affirms that any student who, once admitted, transitions to another identity other than "female" and, who completes

1887-424: A women's college was the best way for her to fulfill the moral obligation she expressed in her will: I hereby make the following provisions for the establishment and maintenance of an Institution for the higher education of young women, with the design to furnish for my own sex means and facilities for education equal to those which are afforded now in our colleges to young men. The campus was planned and planted in

1998-660: A working group charged with identifying key themes in response to the day of inclusion and ensuing protests and revamped the Office of Equity and Inclusion, adding programmatic changes, new or modified positions, training and development opportunities and new events to promote inclusion and equity. In October 2020, Smith alumna Jodi Shaw, then Student Support Coordinator in the Department of Residence Life, began posting videos commenting on mandated diversity training for staff at Smith College on her YouTube channel. Shaw characterized

2109-477: A writing intensive class during the first year and the fulfillment of a major. Examinations vary from self-scheduled exams, scheduled exams, and take-home exams. Undergraduate admissions are exclusively restricted to women, although Smith announced a trans-inclusive admissions policy in 2015. Smith offers several graduate degrees, all of which accept applicants regardless of gender, and co-administers programs alongside other Five College Consortium members. The college

2220-480: A young age, because they never had to face the painful identity crisis and subsequent maturation that comes from dealing with many adult challenges. Chapter 8 : Friedan notes that the uncertainties and fears during World War II and the Cold War made Americans long for the comfort of home, so they tried to create an idealized home life with the father as breadwinner and the mother as housewife. Friedan notes that this

2331-432: Is further removed from females than from males. This is, according to Freud, because clitoral masturbation is a masculine activity that is slowly repressed throughout puberty (and shortly after discovering the penis envy) in an attempt to make room for the female's femininity by transitioning the erotogenic zone from the clitoris to the vagina. The result of these anxieties culminates in the girl giving up on her desire for

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2442-765: Is intended to add to the camaraderie and social cohesion of its students. Unlike most institutions of its type, Smith College does not have dorms, but rather 41 separate houses, ranging in architectural style from 18th-century to contemporary. It is rumored the architecture of Chapin House was the inspiration for the Tara Plantation House in Gone with the Wind . (Author Margaret Mitchell went to Smith for one year and lived in Chapin.) A novelty of Smith's homelike atmosphere

2553-506: Is nationally recognized for its specialization in clinical social work and puts a heavy emphasis on direct field work practice. The program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education . The school offers a Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) degree as well as a Ph.D. program designed to prepare MSWs for leadership positions in clinical research education and practice. The college has a limited number of other programs leading to Ph.D.s and

2664-426: Is never about making people too uncomfortable or to feel ashamed or anything. I think our staff is content and are embracing it." A former janitor told the paper that he had gone through numerous training sessions in race and intersectionality at Smith and that they had left staff workers cynical. Smith College has many different houses serving as dormitories. Each house is self-governing. While many students remain in

2775-610: Is part of a cooperative doctoral program co-administered by Amherst College , Hampshire College , Mount Holyoke College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst . The 2022 annual ranking of U.S. News & World Report categorizes Smith as 'most selective'. For the Class of 2027 (enrolling fall 2023), Smith received 9,868 applications (reflecting a 36 percent increase over last year), accepted 1,875 (19.0%), and enrolled 630. Smith’s applicant pool has increased 36 percent over

2886-591: Is the continuing popularity of Sophia Smith's recipe for molasses cookies. These are often served at the traditional Friday afternoon tea held in each house, where students, faculty and staff members, and alumnae socialize. Two cultural spaces on campus are used by students of color to build their community: the Mwangi Cultural Center and Unity House. Mwangi originally opened as the Afro-American Cultural Center in 1968 but

2997-505: The Ladies' Home Journal in June 1964. Friedan's chapter on Freud was inspired by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir 's The Second Sex (1949). The Feminine Mystique drew large numbers of white, middle-class women to the feminist cause. The National Organization for Women (NOW) was organized in 1966 with 30 women from different backgrounds; Friedan was one of them, and helped draft

3108-582: The Oedipus complex in which the phallic conflict arises for males, as well as for females. Though Carl Jung made the distinction between the Oedipus complex for males and the Electra complex for females in his work The Theory of Psychoanalysis , Freud rejected this latter term, stating that the feminine Oedipus complex is not the same as the male Oedipus because, "It is only in the male child that we find

3219-636: The SAT optional movement for undergraduate admission. Smith runs its own junior year abroad (JYA) programs in four European cities: Paris , Hamburg , Florence , and Geneva . These programs are notable for requiring all studies to be conducted in the language of the host country (with both Paris and Geneva programs conducted in French). In some cases, students live in homestays with local families. Nearly half of Smith's juniors study overseas, either through Smith JYA programs or at more than 40 other locations around

3330-412: The University of Toronto . Since President Conway's term, all Smith presidents have been women, with the exception of John M. Connolly's one-year term as acting president in the interim after President Simmons left to lead Brown University . Smith has a contract with Zipcar in efforts to reduce individually owned-cars on campus. The college has also promoted sustainability through academics and through

3441-500: The phallic stage , were challenged early by other psychoanalysts, such as Karen Horney , Otto Fenichel and Ernest Jones , though Freud did not accept their view of penis envy as a secondary, rather than a primary, female reaction. Later psychologists, such as Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget , challenged the Freudian model of child psychological development as a whole. Jacques Lacan , however, took up and developed Freud's theory of

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3552-440: The 12th president of Smith College, effective July 1, 2023. Smith has been led by 11 presidents and two acting presidents. ( Elizabeth Cutter Morrow was the first acting president of Smith College and the first female head of the college, but she did not use the title of president.) For the 1975 centennial, the college inaugurated its first woman president, Jill Ker Conway , who came to Smith from Australia by way of Harvard and

3663-573: The 15th overall best liberal arts college in the U.S., and rated it eighth for "Best Value", tied for 17th in "Best Undergraduate Engineering Program" at schools where doctorate not offered, tied for 19th in "Best Undergraduate Teaching", and tied for 94th in "Top Performers on Social Mobility". In 2019, Forbes rated Smith 81st overall in its America's Top Colleges ranking of 650 military academies, national universities, and liberal arts colleges. Kiplinger's Personal Finance places Smith 16th in its 2019 ranking of 149 best value liberal arts colleges in

3774-404: The 1890s as a botanical garden and arboretum , designed by noted American landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted . By 1915, the student enrollment was 1,724, and the faculty numbered 163. During the 1920s, two students at the college went missing: junior Alice Corbett disappeared on November 13, 1925, and was never found; freshman Frances Smith disappeared on January 13, 1928—her body

3885-490: The 1908 article was added to the third edition in 1915. In On Narcissism (1914) he described how some women develop a masculine ideal as "a survival of the boyish nature that they themselves once possessed". The term grew in significance as Freud gradually refined his views of sexuality, coming to describe a mental process he believed occurred as one went from the phallic stage to the latency stage (see Psychosexual development .) Penis envy stems from Freud's concept of

3996-485: The Civil Rights Movement, Friedan's text "barely mentions African-American women." In her Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center , Black feminist bell hooks writes "She did not speak of the needs of women without men, without children, without homes. She ignored the existence of all non-white women and poor white women. She did not tell readers whether it was more fulfilling to be a maid, a babysitter,

4107-541: The Pioneer Valley: Mount Holyoke College , Amherst College , Hampshire College , and the University of Massachusetts Amherst ; students of each college are allowed to attend classes at any other member institution. On campus are Smith's Museum of Art and Botanic Garden , the latter designed by Frederick Law Olmsted . Smith has 50 academic departments and programs and is structured around an open curriculum, with requirements being

4218-521: The Quadrangle. Each part can, in turn, be divided into smaller areas to more precisely provide the location of the house in question. In 2019, the college shifted from officially recognizing the four main areas of campus to instead categorizing houses in four neighborhoods: Ivy, Paradise, Mountain, and Garden. This change was largely internal and categorizes houses by size rather than location. Smith has numerous folk tales and ghost stories emerging from

4329-640: The Smith College faculty. By becoming Kahn Fellows, students get involved in interdisciplinary research projects and work alongside faculty and visiting scholars for a year. Students can develop leadership skills through Smith's two-year Phoebe Reese Lewis Leadership Program. Participants train in public speaking, analytical thinking, teamwork strategies, and the philosophical aspects of leadership. Through Smith's internship program, "Praxis: The Liberal Arts at Work," all undergraduates are guaranteed access to one college-funded internship during their years at

4440-416: The Smith College website, Ford Hall is a "...facility that will intentionally blur the boundaries between traditional disciplines, creating an optimum environment for students and faculty to address key scientific and technological developments of our time." The building was officially dedicated on October 16, 2009. The campus also boasts a botanic garden that includes a variety of specialty gardens including

4551-527: The United States , and recipients of the Pulitzer Prize , Rhodes Scholarship , Academy Award , Emmy Award , MacArthur Grant , Peabody Award , and Tony Award . The college was chartered in 1871 by a bequest of Sophia Smith and opened its doors in 1875 with 14 students and 6 faculty. When Smith inherited a fortune from her father aged 65, she decided that leaving her inheritance to found

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4662-430: The United States who were unhappy despite living in material comfort and being married with children. Friedan also questions the women's magazine, women's education system, and advertisers for creating this widespread image of women. The detrimental effects induced by this image were that it cornered women into the domestic sphere, and that it led many women to lose their own identities. Chapter 1 : Friedan points out that

4773-524: The United States. For 2020, Washington Monthly ranked Smith 23rd among 218 liberal arts colleges in the U.S. based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service. Smith College is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education . Smith requires most undergraduate students to live in on-campus houses unless they reside locally with their families. This policy

4884-591: The academic excellence of women. Considering education and personal growth to be a lifelong process, she stayed actively involved in women's higher education until her death at the age of 97. Smith's graduate program is open to applicants of any gender. Degrees offered are Master of Arts in teaching (elementary, middle or high school), master of fine arts, master of education of the deaf, Master of Science in biological sciences, Master of Science in exercise and sport studies and master and Ph.D. in social work. In special one-year programs, international students may qualify for

4995-683: The alias "L M" wrote in a two-page memo that Friedan's theoretical views were "too obvious and feminine", as well as critiquing her approach by suggesting it to be unscientific. In addition, Friedan has been criticized for focusing solely on the plight of middle-class white women, and not giving enough attention to the differing situations encountered by women in less stable economic situations, or women of other races. According to Kirsten Fermaglich and Lisa Fine, "women of color— African American , Latina, Asian American and Native American women—were completely absent from Friedan's vision, as were white working-class and poor women." Despite being written during

5106-624: The arts. All Smith dining locations have discontinued the use of disposable "to-go" supplies, instead encouraging students to bring their own reusable containers and utensils if they wish to bring food back to their rooms. Smith College provides all students with a reusable drink container at the beginning of each academic year. In past years, these containers have been variations on travel mugs, Sigg bottles, and Nalgene. Those dining halls that still offer "To-Go" options no longer provide paper bags and instead use wax paper bags, biodegradable plastic , and recyclable utensils made of vegetable cellulose. In

5217-402: The assumption that the proper role of a woman was to be solely a wife and mother. She notes that they secured important rights for women, including education, the right to pursue a career, and the right to vote. Chapter 5 : In this chapter, Friedan, who had a degree in psychology, criticizes the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (whose ideas were very influential in the United States at

5328-511: The average age of marriage was dropping, the portion of women attending college was decreasing and the birthrate was increasing for women throughout the 1950s, yet the widespread trend of unhappy women persisted, although American culture insisted that fulfillment for women could be found in marriage and housewifery. Although aware of and sharing this dissatisfaction, women in the 1950s misinterpreted it as an individual problem and rarely talked about it with other women. As Friedan pointed out, "part of

5439-661: The book, which they felt implied that wives and mothers could never be fulfilled. "Women who valued their roles as mothers and housewives interpreted Friedan's message as one that threatened their stability, devalued their labor, and disrespected their intelligence." In a Letter to Editor in McCall 's , one woman wrote, "All this time I thought I was happy, and a nice person. Now I discover I've been miserable and some sort of monster in disguise—now out of disguise. How awful!" Another said, "Mrs. Friedan should save her pity for those who really need it—the half starved, oppressed people in

5550-530: The chance to develop their fullest human potential." The Feminine Mystique is widely regarded as one of the most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century, and is widely credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States. Futurist Alvin Toffler declared that it "pulled the trigger on history." Friedan received hundreds of letters from unhappy housewives after its publication, and she herself went on to help found, and become

5661-427: The circumstances men, not women, would be buying these household products and women having actual careers would increase women's buying power while increasing advertisers profits. Chapter 10 : Friedan interviews several full-time housewives, finding that although they are not fulfilled by their housework, they are all extremely busy with it. She postulates that these women unconsciously stretch their home duties to fill

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5772-503: The college's graduation requirements, will be awarded a Smith degree. The Resource Center for Sexuality and Gender; The Office for Equity and Inclusion and its Trans/Non-binary Working Group; Transcending Gender, a student group focused on support and education; and the Transgender Support Group run by Counseling Services work to support trans and non-binary students at Smith across the gender identity spectrum. In

5883-523: The college. This program enables students to access interesting self-generated internship positions in social welfare and human services, the arts, media, health, education, and other fields. Its most popular undergraduate majors, based on 2021 graduates, were: The Ada Comstock Scholars Program is an undergraduate degree program that serves Smith students of nontraditional college age . The program accommodates approximately 100 women ranging in age from mid-twenties to over sixty. Ada Comstock Scholars attend

5994-487: The contemporary magazines and articles of the period did not place women solely in the home, as Friedan stated, but in fact supported the notions of full- or part-time jobs for women seeking to follow a career path rather than being a housewife. These articles did, however, still emphasize the importance of maintaining the traditional image of femininity. Daniel Horowitz, a Professor of American Studies at Smith College , points out that although Friedan presented herself as

6105-545: The culmination of a yearlong project to promote visibility and enthusiasm for Smith's intercollegiate and club teams—and to generate school spirit broadly. The spirit mark is used for athletics uniforms, casual apparel, and promotional items for clubs and organizations. As Smith was the first women's college to join the NCAA , the new mark is seen as linking the college's pioneering alumnae athletes to their equally determined and competitive counterparts today. Smith athletes won some of

6216-475: The early national intercollegiate women's tennis championships in singles (Louise Raymond, 1938 and 1939) and doubles (1933, 1935, 1938 and 1948). Penis envy Penis envy ( German : Penisneid ) is a stage in Sigmund Freud 's theory of female psychosexual development , in which young girls experience anxiety upon realization that they do not have a penis . Freud considered this realization

6327-527: The fact that Hect had "liked" right-wing tweets on Twitter , such as Donald Trump tweeting "Build that Wall!" and a tweet from the National Rifle Association of America , before deleting his account once the conflict with students began. At the conference, students protested a presentation from the campus police, including Hect, about policing in a diverse community. Protests continued the next day when hundreds of students participated in

6438-410: The fact that many children have lost interest in life or emotional growth, attributing the change to the mother's own lack of fulfillment, a side effect of the feminine mystique. When the mother lacks a self, Friedan notes, she often tries to live through her children, causing the children to lose their own sense of themselves as separate human beings with their own lives. Chapter 13 : Friedan discusses

6549-549: The fall of 2017, Smith dining halls began to offer plastic Tupperware containers students may borrow and return to the dining halls to be washed. For Smith's efforts regarding sustainability, the institution earned a grade of A− on the "College Sustainability Report Card 2010" administered by the Sustainable Endowments Institute . Smith was lauded for many of the indicator categories, including student involvement, green building, and transportation, but

6660-631: The fall of 2018, students at Smith protested after a Smith employee called the police on a black student working at Smith over the summer when the employee saw her in a common space. Organized by the Black Students’ Alliance and the Smith African & Caribbean Students Association, students protested and walked out of the annual Smith convocation . While the incident received national attention and news coverage, Smith conducted an independent investigation and investigators found that there

6771-417: The fateful combination of love for the one parent and simultaneous hatred of the other as a rival." This development of the female Oedipus complex according to Freud begins when the female makes comparisons with another male, perceiving this not as a sex characteristic; but rather, by assuming that she had previously possessed a penis, and had lost it by castration. This leads to the essential difference between

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6882-555: The feminine mystique. She also advocates a new life plan for her women readers, including not viewing housework as a career, not trying to find total fulfillment through marriage and motherhood alone, and finding meaningful work that uses their full mental capacity. She discusses the conflicts that some women may face in this journey to self-actualization, including their own fears and resistance from others. For each conflict, Friedan offers examples of women who have overcome it. Friedan ends her book by promoting education and meaningful work as

6993-473: The first president of the National Organization for Women , an influential feminist organization. In addition to its contribution to feminism, The Feminine Mystique related to many other coinciding movements. "Her work indicates for us the ways that feminism was interconnected with the struggles of working-class men and women, with black and Jewish battles against racism and anti-Semitism… As

7104-427: The formation of the character-trait of jealousy through displacement of the abandoned penis envy upon maturation. Freud concludes this from considering the common female fantasy of a child being beaten to be a confession of masturbation, with the child representing the clitoris. A third consequence of penis envy involves the discovery of the inferiority of this clitoris, suggested through the observation that masturbation

7215-421: The founding statement of NOW. The statement called for "the true equality for all women". NOW demanded the removal of all barriers to "equal and economic advance". Friedan's influence can be seen in the founding statement; a main emphasis of the book is "women's need for identity and autonomy", and NOW's statement says "NOW is dedicated to the proposition that women first and foremost are human beings, who… must have

7326-585: The group Q&A ("Queers and Allies") to advocate for more trans-inclusive policies. Q&A subsequently protested the policy on Facebook and other social media websites, as well as staging protests on campus that garnered significant media attention. In 2014, Smith formed an Admissions Policy Study Group, co-chaired by Daphne Lamothe and Audrey Smith, who at the time were an associate professor of Afro-American studies and vice president for enrollment, respectively. The group recommended that to be considered for admission to Smith, applicants live and/or identify as

7437-521: The histories of some of its historic buildings. It was named the most haunted college in America by College Consensus. One such tale holds Sessions House is inhabited by the ghost of Lucy Hunt, who died of a broken heart after being separated from her lover, General Burgoyne. Reports of a ghost in Sessions House predate its history as a campus house. Built in 1751 by the Hunt family, the house has

7548-422: The identity of woman is determined by her biology." Friedan goes on to argue that the problem is women needing to mature and find their human identity: "In a sense that goes beyond any woman's life, I think this is a crisis of women growing up—a turning point from an immaturity that has been called femininity to full human identity." Chapter 4 : Friedan discusses early American feminists and how they fought against

7659-557: The image defined by Freud – inferior, childish, helpless, with no possibility of happiness unless she adjusted to being man's passive object – they wanted to help women get rid of their suppressed envy, their neurotic desire to be equal. They wanted to help women find sexual fulfillment as women, by affirming their natural inferiority". A small but influential number of feminist philosophers, working in psychoanalytic feminism , and including Luce Irigaray , Julia Kristeva , and Hélène Cixous , have taken varying post-structuralist views on

7770-418: The importance of what he called " penisneid in the unconscious of women" in linguistic terms, seeing what he called the phallus as the privileged signifier of humanity's subordination to language: "the phallus (by virtue of which the unconscious is language)". He thereby opened up a new field of debate around phallogocentrism —some figures like Juliet Mitchell endorsing a view of penis envy which "uses, not

7881-659: The improvement of their rights. Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts , United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is a member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. Smith is also a member of the Five College Consortium with four other institutions in

7992-551: The language of the Student Government Association constitution, in order to make that document inclusive of transgender students who don't identify with the pronouns "she" and "her." Until 2013, transgender women were not allowed to attend Smith unless all their legal documentation consistently stated they were female. This policy came to public attention in March 2013 when Smith rejected the application of

8103-399: The male and female Oedipus complex that the female accepts castration as a fact, while the boy fears it happening. Freud felt that penis envy may lead to: This envy towards the penis leads to various psychical consequences according to Freud, so long as it does not form into a reaction-formation of a masculinity complex. One such consequence is a sense of inferiority after becoming aware of

8214-431: The man, but the phallus to which the man has to lay claim, as its key term", others strongly repudiating it. Ernest Jones attempted to remedy Freud's initial theory penis envy by giving three alternative meanings: In Freud's theory, the female sexual center shifts from the clitoris to the vagina during a heterosexual life event. Freud believed in a duality between how genders construct mature sexuality in terms of

8325-462: The opposite gender, whereas feminists reject the notion that female sexuality can only be defined in relation to the male. Feminist development theorists instead believe that the clitoris, not the vagina, is the mature center of female sexuality because it allows a construction of mature female sexuality independent of the penis. Karen Horney — a German psychoanalyst who also placed great emphasis on childhood experiences in psychological development —

8436-411: The paradigmatic belief at the time that "bad mothers" caused deviance from heteronormative and cisnormative society. Despite these criticisms, her "language aimed at white American middle-class women won large numbers of supporters to the feminist cause," implying perhaps that Friedan's decision to exclude other groups was deliberate in mobilizing a group of women that had in some cases not thought of

8547-506: The past year, which the college attributes to the decision to move to ‘loan-free’ financial aid. The middle 50% range of SAT scores was 670–750 for critical reading and 670–770 for math, while the middle 50% range for the ACT composite score was 31–34 for enrolled first-year students. The average SAT for Smith College is 1430 even though Smith is also a test-optional college. U.S. News & World Report ' s 2021 rankings placed Smith tied for

8658-404: The penis, and instead puts it in the place of the wish for a child; and, with that goal in mind, she takes her father as the love-object and makes the mother into the object of her jealousy. Freud considered that in normal female development penis envy transformed into the wish for a man and/or a baby. Karl Abraham differentiated two types of adult women in whom penis envy remained intense as

8769-522: The position of women will surely be what it is: in youth an adored darling and in mature years a loved wife." Friedan also points out that Freud's unproven concept of " penis envy " had been used to label women who wanted careers as neurotic, and that the popularity of Freud's work and ideas elevated the "feminine mystique" of female fulfillment in housewifery into a "scientific religion" that most women were not educated enough to criticize. Chapter 6 : Friedan criticizes functionalism , which attempted to make

8880-663: The program. In January 1975, the Ada Comstock Scholars Program has formally established under President Jill Ker Conway and in the fall of that year, forty-five women were enrolled. The students range in age, background, and geographical location. The growth of the program peaked at just over 400 students in 1988. The program is named for Ada Louise Comstock Notestein (1876–1973), an 1897 Smith graduate, professor of English and dean of Smith from 1912 to 1923, and president of Radcliffe College from 1923 to 1943. Ada Comstock Notestein devoted much of her life to

8991-471: The psychologist Abraham Maslow 's hierarchy of needs and notes that women have been trapped at the basic, physiological level, expected to find their identity through their sexual role alone. Friedan says that women need meaningful work just as men do to achieve self-actualization, the highest level on the hierarchy of needs. Chapter 14 : In the final chapter of The Feminine Mystique , Friedan discusses several case studies of women who have begun to go against

9102-677: The same classes as traditional undergraduates, either full or part-time, and participate fully in a variety of extracurricular activities. They may live on or off campus. Financial aid is available to each Ada Comstock Scholar with demonstrated need. Beginning in 1968, with the approval of the Committee on Educational Policy, Smith College initiated a trial program loosely titled The Continuing Education Degree for several women of non-traditional age who were looking to complete their unfinished degrees. Their successes inspired President Thomas C. Mendenhall and Dean Alice Dickinson to officially expand

9213-502: The same house for the entirety of their four years at Smith, they are not obligated to do so and may move to different houses on campus as space allows. While houses previously collected dues, in the 2019–2020 school year they were eradicated to avoid placing financial pressure on low-income students or students who were otherwise unable to pay without sacrificing funding for the House. Houses are found in four main regions of campus: Upper and Lower Elm Street, Green Street, Center Campus, and

9324-401: The same kind of decision. Many women dropped out of school early to marry, afraid that if they waited too long or became too educated, they would not be able to attract a husband. Friedan argues at the end of the chapter that although theorists discuss how men need to find their identity, women are expected to be autonomous. She states, "Anatomy is woman's destiny, say the theorists of femininity;

9435-412: The social sciences more credible by studying the institutions of society as if they were parts of a social body, as in biology. Institutions were studied in terms of their function in society, and women were confined to their sexual biological roles as housewives and mothers as well as told that doing otherwise would upset the social balance. Friedan points out that this is unproven and that Margaret Mead ,

9546-399: The sociosexual theory for privileging heterosexual sexual activity and penile penetration in defining women's "mature state of sexuality". Others claim that the concept explains how, in a patriarchal society, women might envy the power accorded to those with a phallus. In her academic paper " Women and Penis Envy" (1943), Clara Thompson reformulated the latter as social envy for

9657-647: The stairwell. In addition to its 11 varsity sports, there are currently more than 120 clubs and organizations. Smith's athletic teams have been known as the Pioneers since 1986. The name expresses the spirit of Smith's students and the college's leading role in women's athletics (the first women's basketball game was played at Smith in 1893). A new spirit mark was unveiled to the Smith community in December 2008. The new visual identity for Smith's sports teams marks

9768-410: The strange newness of the problem is that it cannot be understood in terms of the age-old material problems of man: poverty, sickness, hunger, cold." This chapter concludes by declaring: "We can no longer ignore that voice within women that says: 'I want something more than my husband and my children and my home. ' " Chapter 2 : Friedan states that the editorial decisions concerning women's magazines at

9879-509: The time available, because the feminine mystique has taught women that this is their role, and if they ever complete their tasks they will become unneeded. Chapter 11 : Friedan notes that many housewives have sought fulfillment in sex, unable to find it in housework and children. She notes that sex cannot fulfill all of a person's needs, and that attempts to do so often drive married women to have affairs or drive their husbands away as they become obsessed with sex. Chapter 12 : Friedan discusses

9990-469: The time of the book's publication). She notes that Freud saw women as childlike and destined to be housewives, once pointing out that Freud wrote, "I believe that all reforming action in law and education would break down in front of the fact that, long before the age at which a man can earn a position in society, Nature has determined woman's destiny through beauty, charm, and sweetness. Law and custom have much to give women that has been withheld from them, but

10101-671: The time were being made mostly by men, who insisted on stories and articles that showed women as either happy housewives or unhappy careerists, thus creating the "feminine mystique"—the idea that women were naturally fulfilled by devoting their lives to being housewives and mothers. Friedan also states that this is in contrast to the 1930s, at which time women's magazines often featured confident and independent heroines, many of whom were involved in careers. Chapter 3 : Friedan recalls her own decision to conform to society's expectations by giving up her promising career in psychology to raise children, and shows that other young women still struggled with

10212-538: The topic, not a book, but no magazine would publish the work. The phrase "feminine mystique" was coined by Friedan to describe the assumptions that women would be fulfilled from their housework, marriage, sexual lives, and children. The prevailing belief was that women who were truly feminine should not want to work, get an education, or have political opinions. Friedan wanted to prove that women were unsatisfied and could not voice their feelings. At that time, women were unaware that their sense of living an unfulfilling life

10323-413: The training as contributing to a climate of "harassment, discrimination, and hostility" at the college, especially for staff. On February 19, 2021, columnist Bari Weiss published Shaw's resignation letter on Weiss's Substack blog. In it, Shaw described the implementation of the training as "psychologically abusive" and the culture as "deeply hostile and fearful." She alleged that the college had "offered

10434-434: The trappings of the dominant gender, a sociological response to female subordination under patriarchy. Betty Friedan referred to penis envy as a purely parasitic social bias typical of Victorianism and particularly of Freud's own biography, and showed how the concept played a key role in discrediting alternative notions of femininity in the early to mid twentieth century: "Because Freud's followers could only see woman in

10545-519: The treatment of penis envy as a fixed operation as opposed to a formation constructed or used in a secondary manner to fend off earlier wishes. Freud introduced the concept of interest and envy of the penis in his 1908 article "On the Sexual Theories of Children." It was not mentioned in the first edition of Freud's earlier Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex (1905), but a synopsis of

10656-421: The ultimate method by which American women can avoid becoming trapped in the feminine mystique, calling for a drastic rethinking of what it means to be feminine, and offering several educational and occupational suggestions. Friedan originally intended to write a sequel to The Feminine Mystique , which was to be called Woman: The Fourth Dimension , but instead only wrote an article by that name, which appeared in

10767-460: The wish-fulfilling and the vindictive types: The former were dominated by fantasies of having or becoming a penis—as with the singing/dancing/performing women who felt that in their acts they magically incorporated the (parental) phallus. The latter sought revenge on the male through humiliation or deprivation (whether by removing the man from the penis or the penis from the man). Freud's theories regarding psychosexual development, and in particular

10878-535: The world. Junior math majors from other undergraduate institutions are invited to study at Smith College for one year through the Center for Women in Mathematics . Established in the fall of 2007 by Professors Ruth Haas and Jim Henle, the program aims to allow young women to improve their mathematical abilities through classwork, research, and involvement in a department centered on women. The Center also offers

10989-430: The world." When women critical of the work were not expressing personal offense at Friedan's description of the housewife's plight, they were accusing her of planning to destroy American families. Jessica Weiss quoted in her paper, "If the mothers, (or housewives as we are called) took this advice, what would become of our children? Or better yet, the future of the world." Historian Joanne Meyerowitz argues that many of

11100-405: The wound inflicted upon her narcissism. After initially attempting to explain this lack of a penis as a punishment towards her, she later realizes the universality of her female situation, and as a result begins to share the contempt that men have towards women as a lesser (in the important respect of a lack of a penis), and so insists upon being like a man. A second consequence of penis envy involves

11211-416: Was a particular advocate of this view. She asserted the concept of " womb envy ", and saw "masculine narcissism " as underlying the mainstream Freudian view. Some feminists argue that Freud's developmental theory is heteronormative and denies women a mature sexuality independent of men; they also criticize it for privileging the vagina over the clitoris as the center of women's sexuality . They criticize

11322-820: Was discussed in Makers: Women Who Make America . In 2014, the Betty Friedan Hometown Tribute committee won the Superior Achievement award in the special projects category for its 50th anniversary celebration of the publication of The Feminine Mystique . They received the award from the Illinois State Historical Society. Immediately after its publishing, The Feminine Mystique was the recipient of much backlash against feminism. Significant numbers of women responded angrily to

11433-669: Was held. An accompanying exhibit titled REACT was also on display, consisting of twenty-five pieces of artwork responding to The Feminine Mystique . Also in February 2013, a fiftieth-anniversary edition of The Feminine Mystique was published, with a new introduction by Gail Collins . Also in 2013, to celebrate its centennial the U.S. Department of Labor created a list of over 100 Books that Shaped Work in America , which included The Feminine Mystique . The Department of Labor later chose The Feminine Mystique as one of its top ten books from that list. Also in 2013, The Feminine Mystique

11544-942: Was helped along by the fact that many of the women who worked during the war filling jobs previously held by men faced dismissal, discrimination, or hostility when the men returned, and that educators blamed over-educated, career-focused mothers for the maladjustment of soldiers in World War II. Yet as Friedan shows, later studies found that overbearing mothers, not careerists, were the ones who raised maladjusted children. Chapter 9 : Friedan shows that advertisers tried to encourage housewives to think of themselves as professionals who needed many specialized products in order to do their jobs, while discouraging housewives from having actual careers, since that would mean they would not spend as much time and effort on housework and therefore would not buy as many household products, cutting into advertisers' profits. Critics of this theory point out that under

11655-507: Was later renamed in honor of the first female physician in Kenya, and Smith alum, Dr. Ng’endo Mwangi ('61). After loaning Mwangi to the other cultural organizations on campus for four years, the Black Students’ Alliance decided to reclaim Mwangi in April 1990. Leaders, members, and supporters of cultural organizations got together to form a group called UNITY, in October of the same year, to demand

11766-467: Was marked down for endowment transparency. Smith College has 285 professors in 50 academic departments and programs, for a faculty-student ratio of 1:9. It was the first women's college in the United States to grant its own undergraduate degrees in engineering . The Picker Engineering Program offers a single ABET accredited Bachelor of Science in engineering science, combining the fundamentals of multiple engineering disciplines. In 2008, Smith joined

11877-420: Was no bias in the incident. In response to the incident, Smith hosted an Inclusion and Diversity Conference on April 10, 2019, featuring workshops and presenters run by various members of the Smith community. However, during that time another controversy arose: the hiring of Mount Holyoke College and Smith's joint police chief, Daniel Hect. Students from both campuses brought to their administrators' attention

11988-492: Was recovered from the Connecticut River months later. By 2010, the school had 2,600 undergraduates on campus and 250 students studying elsewhere. The campus landscape now encompasses 147 acres (59 ha) and includes more than 1,200 varieties of trees and shrubs. Smith is the largest privately endowed college for women in the United States. The United States Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School at Smith College

12099-407: Was shared by many other women. With the help of this book, ladies no longer felt confined to their homes and were more comfortable voicing their ideas to one another. The Feminine Mystique begins with an introduction describing what Friedan called "the problem that has no name"—the widespread unhappiness of women in the 1950s and early 1960s. She discusses the lives of several housewives from around

12210-420: Was the first historically women's college to offer an undergraduate engineering degree. Admissions are considered selective. It was the first women's college to join the NCAA , and its sports teams are known as the Pioneers. Smith alumnae include notable authors, journalists, activists, feminists, politicians, investors, philanthropists, actresses, filmmakers, academics, businesswomen, CEOs, two First Ladies of

12321-484: Was training grounds for junior officers of the Women's Reserve of the U.S. Naval Reserve (WAVES) and was nicknamed "USS Northampton". On August 28, 1942, a total of 120 women reported to the school for training. In April 2015, the faculty adopted an open-access policy to make its scholarship publicly accessible online. On September 15, 2022, the Board of Trustees announced Sarah Willie-LeBreton had been selected as

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