Book · 1992 · Feminism
The Feminine Mystique
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If you read The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, which came out, I think, in the early 60s, you know, over 50 years ago, that book is like a recipe for destroying a society.
Tucker Carlson · The Tucker Carlson Show · Apr 2025 Listen at 1:06:11 What they say about it
- Inaugural text of second wave feminism“inaugural text of second wave feminism”2
- Complaints of suburban housewives“unhappiness of stay-at-home housewives”2
- Before the book was written“before Betty Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique”2
The best things said about it
You could see that in Betty Friedan's book, you know, that famous 1960s work where she complained about the boring lot of suburban housewives.
Jordan Peterson The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast · May 2025 Betty Friedan writes The Feminine Mystique and that suddenly unleashes this pent up frustration.
All the stuff that Betty Friedan talked about in The Feminine Mystique is embodied in the writing of Judy Blume.
This is Betty Friedan's kind of, you know, inaugural text of second wave feminism.
There was a lot of infighting in feminism at the time—there was the Old Guard, kind of personified by Betty Friedan, who wrote The Feminine Mystique.
Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
How it comes up
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Why people recommend it
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan is a landmark 1960s feminist text that investigated the widespread unhappiness and unfulfilled potential of women trapped in domestic suburban roles. The book was referenced frequently in podcasts examining modern culture, gender roles, and the history of the women's movement. Josh Clark on Stuff You Should Know connected the domestic themes of the era to the writings of Judy Blume, while Louis Menand on The Book Review noted that the book successfully unlocked pent-up societal frustration among women. Conversely, conservative commentators offered sharp critiques of the work and its cultural legacy. Jordan Peterson argued on his podcast that the book's framing of suburban domestic life was rooted primarily in resentment. Tucker Carlson discussed the text on multiple episodes of his show, characterizing it alongside modern lifestyle feminism as a destructive recipe for dismantling traditional Western institutions. Ezra Klein and Helen Lewis analyzed the book on The Ezra Klein Show while discussing pre-feminist era idealization and the historical discontent of stay-at-home housewives. Additionally, Charlie Kirk mentioned the title on his show—frequently misattributing authorship to Gloria Steinem—to argue that even prominent early feminists eventually recognized innate psychological differences between men and women. Across these diverse conversations, speakers utilized the historic publication as a foundational reference point for debating the evolution of gender roles, family structures, and the broader social changes that reshaped the Western world over the past half-century.
Every mention
Josh Clark Like, all the stuff that Betty Friedan talked about in The Feminine Mystique is embodied in the writing of… 2
“Like, all the stuff that Betty Friedan talked about in The Feminine Mystique is embodied in the writing of Judy Blume.”
“a lot of there was a lot of um infighting in feminism at the time there was the Old Guard kind of personified by Betty fan who wrote the Feminine Mystique”
Spencer Klavan this is Betty ferdan's kind of you know inaugural text of Second wave feminism 2
“and I I genuinely think that that has been the driving force in a lot of feminism basically since the Feminine Mystique this is Betty ferdan's kind of you know inaugural text of Second wave feminism... when you get articles in the New York Times right about if you calculated the amount of money that you would have to pay”
“this is Betty ferdan's kind of you know inaugural text of Second wave feminism”
Tucker Carlson It would look like what we had before Betty Ferdan wrote the feminine mystique before lifestyle feminism do… 2
“It would look like what we had before Betty Ferdan wrote the feminine mystique before lifestyle feminism dominated every institution in the west.”
“If you read the feminine mystique by Betty Ferdan which came out I think in the early 60s you know over 50 years ago that book is like a recipe for destroying a society and yet it was promoted.”
Charlie Kirk you know who agrees with me one of the leading feminists of the 60s and 70s Gloria Steinman who wrote Femin… 1
“you know who agrees with me one of the leading feminists of the 60s and 70s Gloria Steinman who wrote Feminist Mystique”
Ezra Klein It would look like what we had before Betty Ferdan wrote the feminist mystique, before lifestyle feminism d… 1
“It would look like what we had before Betty Ferdan wrote the feminist mystique, before lifestyle feminism dominated every institution in the west.”
Helen Lewis It was something that Betty Fredan was writing about in the feminine seat when she was talking about specif… 1
“It was something that Betty Fredan was writing about in the feminine seat when she was talking about specifically the unhappiness of stay-at-home housewives.”
Jordan Peterson You could see that in Betty Ferdan's book, you know, that famous 1960s work where she complained about the… 1
“You could see that in Betty Ferdan's book, you know, that famous 1960s work where she complained about the boring lot of suburban housewives.”
Louis Menand and so three years later Betty foran writes The Feminine Mystique and that suddenly unleashes this pent up… 1
“and so three years later Betty foran writes The Feminine Mystique and that suddenly unleashes this pent up frustration”
Thaddeus Russell because Hillary represents second wave feminism which was read betty Friedan if you don't agree with me I m… 1
“because Hillary represents second wave feminism which was read betty Friedan if you don't agree with me I mean you don't believe me was a rejection of the objectification of women in all forms right so that any showing of skin any sexual ization of women was bad I need to be left behind free dance ed in her book”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker1
“Yeah, there was a lot of infighting in feminism at the time—there was the Old Guard, kind of personified by Betty Friedan, who wrote The Feminine Mystique, who was kind of opposed to the gay contingent, which she called the Lavender Menace, which she believed prevented mainstream society from accepting feminism and seeing it as credible.”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I mean this was you know 1964 was when the The Feminine Mystique came out it was it was a time when you know people and Anchorage were not talking about feminism right”