An essay contrasting the experiences of black and white women, using Betty Friedan’s The Problem That Has No Name and A Black Feminist Statement.
The following paper examines the statements made in Betty Friedan’s “The Problem That Has No Name” from “The Feminine Mystique” and in “A Black Feminist Statement” from ‘All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave’ which reveal both differences and similarities in the problems faced by each group as well as how race, gender and generational perspectives influence each group?s response. The writer concludes that both groups had different experiences in their fights for equality based on their race, social status, economic class, sexual orientation and the time period in which they fought.
“Writing in 1963, Betty Friedan revealed the problems faced by white, middle-class housewives who were not content and fulfilled in their roles as wives and mothers. The account by The Combahee River Collective focuses on the experiences of black, socialist, lesbian women 1977. The desires, frustrations and proposed solutions of each group reflect their social status as well as their race and economic class.”