Born Bettye Goldstein in 1921 in Peoria, Illinois, the "ugly, unpopular, Jewish" girl with the fierce temper and even fiercer intellect was the apple of her father's eye, but couldn't escape her mother's critical gaze until she left for Smith College in 1938. Lifetime does a fine job detailing the Mother of Modern Feminism's life, including her first jobs in journalism, her marriage to Carl Friedan and the birth of their three children, the evolution of The Feminine Mystique, her involvement in NOW, ERA, and NARAL, and the writing of her other books, which follow the arc of her own life. Hosted by Joan Lunden and including interviews with such contemporaries as Helen Gurley Brown, Norman Lear, and Betty Rollin, as well as family members, the program underscores the fact that--all hyperbole aside--Friedan is a tireless, fearless revolutionary who absolutely galvanized the feminist movement. I would have preferred more archival footage of her speeches and interviews, and a more detailed discussion of her philosophies, but, overall, this exceptionally affordable tape is recommended for its introduction to the architect of the "second wave of women's suffrage." Aud: H, C, P. (K. Glaser)
Intimate Portrait: Betty Friedan
(1999) 43 min. $9.98. Lifetime Home Video (dist. by Unapix Home Entertainment). PPR. Color cover. ISBN: 1-57523-954-X. Vol. 15, Issue 5
Intimate Portrait: Betty Friedan
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