The Feminine Mystique Quotes

“The magazine... is crammed full of food, clothing, cosmetics, furniture, and the physical bodies of young women, but where is the world of thought and ideas, the life of the mind and spirit?”

“It says that this femininity is so mysterious and intuitive and close to the creation and origin of life that man-made science may never be able to understand it.”

“It is no longer possible to ignore that voice, to dismiss the desperation of so many American women.”

“The feminine mystique says that the highest value and the only commitment for women is the fulfillment of their own femininity. It says that the great mistake of Western culture, through most of its history, has been the undervaluation of femininity.”

“The truth is—and how long it has been true, I’m not sure, but it was true in my generation and it is true of girls growing up today—an American woman no longer has a private image to tell her who she is, or can be, or wants to be.”