The Second Stage

First published in 1981, this book argues that much of what is called new thinking in feminism has been observed and argued before. Warning the women's movement against dissolving into factionialism, male-bashing and preoccupation with sexual and identity politics rather than "bottom-line" political and economic inequalities, Betty Friedan argues that once past the initial stages of describing and working against politcal and economic injustices, the women's movement should focus on working with men to remake private and public arrangements that work against full lives with children for both women and men. Friedan's agenda to preserve families is far more radical than it appears, for she argues that a truly equitable preservation of marriage and families may require a reorganization of many aspects of conventional middle-class life, from the greater use of flexy time and job-sharing, to company-sponsored daycare, to new home designs to permit communal housekeeping and cooking arrangements. Called "utopian" when it first came out, some of these visions are coming to pass in 1998.