ベティ・フリーダン死去

アメリカの著名なフェミニスト、ベティ・フリーダン（Betty Friedan）が2月4日、亡くなった。85歳だった。
US feminist Friedan dies aged 85 [BBC NEWS]

ベティ・フリーダンは1963年、『女らしさの神話』（"The Feminine Mystique"、邦題『新しい女性の創造』）で、戦後のフェミニスト・ムーブメント（ウーマンリブ）の「意識高揚」（コンシャスネス・レイジング）に火をつけた。そして1966年には全米女性機構(America's National Organization for Women、NOW)を創設、初代会長となった。

In her best-selling book, Friedan had argued that the feminine mystique was a phoney bill of goods society sold to women, leaving them unfulfilled.

"A woman has got to be able to say, and not feel guilty, 'Who am I, and what do I want out of life?'"

Life So Far: A Memoir

『ニューヨークタイムズ』では、この戦後アメリカで最も有名なフェミニズム活動家（the feminist crusader）を追悼する長文の記事が掲載されている。

Betty Friedan, Who Ignited Cause in 'Feminine Mystique,' Dies at 85 [NY Times]

Bettye Naomi Goldstein は1921年、ロシアからの移民であるユダヤ系宝石商の家に生まれた。スミス・カレッジを首席で卒業し、その後カリフォルニア大バークレー校で心理学の学位を取得──エリック・エリクソン（Erik Erikson）の下で学んだという。

主著である"The Feminine Mystique"は、20世紀の最も影響力のある重要な著書とされ、2000年までに300万部を発行、多くの外国語に翻訳された。強制された家事労働／主婦の役割（domesticity）や女性に与えられる──女性らしい──職業なるものを問題化し、ミズ・フリーダンは第二派フェミニズム（the feminism's second wave）の理念的・運動的潮流を築いていく。
また、1969年には、「National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws」を創設し、「女性の権利」として中絶禁止法に反対し「プロチョイス」（Naral Pro-Choice America、中絶選択尊重）の立場を表明した。

Carrying signs and banners ("Don't Cook Dinner - Starve a Rat Tonight!" "Don't Iron while the Strike Is Hot"), women of all ages, along with a number of sympathetic men, marched joyfully down the street to cheering crowds. The march ended with a rally in Bryant Park, behind the New York Public Library, with passionate speeches by Ms. Friedan, Ms. Steinem, Ms. Abzug and Kate Millett. Not all of Ms. Friedan's ventures were as successful. The First Women's Bank and Trust Company, which she helped found in 1973, is no longer in business. Nor were even her indomitable presence and relentless energy enough to secure passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.

しかし、一方、レズビアン／レズビアニズムに対しては、ベティ・フリーダンは「メインストリーム」のフェミニストとして否定的な立場を取った。

"Some people think I'm saying, 'Women of the world unite - you have nothing to lose but your men,'" she told Life magazine in 1963. "It's not true. You have nothing to lose but your vacuum cleaners."

[関連記事]

• US women's movement mourns author Friedan [Guardian]

"She opened doors and minds, breaking down barriers for women and enlarging opportunities for women and men for generations to come. We are all the beneficiaries of her vision," Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Senator from New York, told the Associated Press.

• Feminism after Friedan [Salon]

She notes that in her movement-inspiring 1963 book "The Feminine Mystique," Friedan went so far as to compare housework to animal life: "Vacuuming the living room floor -- with or without makeup -- is not work that takes enough thought or energy to challenge any woman's full capacity," Friedan wrote.

• Friedan's shot heard round the world [The Christian Science Monitor]

Although revolutionary for her time, Friedan was a "moderate" feminist, who believed men should be allies, not enemies. Her interest in furthering the freedom to develop as a person carried into her later years when she addressed issues facing seniors. The aged, she observed in 1993, are talked about with the same "patronizing, 'compassionate' denial of their personhood" as were women.

• Feminism Pioneer Betty Friedan Dies at 85 [washingtonpost]

In "The Second Stage," Friedan also appeared to accept criticism from some women that "The Feminine Mystique" was too dismissive of domestic life. "Our failure was our blind spot about the family," she wrote. Susan Faludi, author of the best-selling "Backlash," would accuse Friedan of "yanking out the stitches in her own handiwork."

The Feminine Mystique

新しい女性の創造