1921-2006 American feminist, activist and writer best known for starting the Second Wave through the book The Feminine Mystique.

• A. Betty Friedan
• B. Gloria Steinem
• C. Susan B. Anthony
• D. Sojourner Truth

Answer: (A)

Betty Friedan is the author behind a turning point in women’s history. Her 1963 work challenges the notion that a woman’s only fulfillment comes from marriage and homemaking, calling attention to the widespread dissatisfaction of many women in postwar America. This critique helped ignite the Second Wave of feminism, pushing for broader opportunities in education, work, and politics and spurring the formation of organizations like the National Organization for Women. The other figures were important feminists in different eras or contexts—Gloria Steinem as a leading voice of the movement in the 1960s–70s, and Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth as 19th-century suffragists—so they don’t fit as the author of that book or the spark for the Second Wave.