Betty Friedan's work helped spark which major movement in the 1960s and 1970s?

• A. First Wave feminism
• B. Fourth Wave feminism
• C. Second Wave feminism
• D. Third Wave feminism

Answer: (C)

Second Wave feminism is what Betty Friedan's work helped spark. Her book The Feminine Mystique (1963) challenged the idea that a woman's fulfillment comes only from being a wife and mother, pointing to widespread dissatisfaction among suburban housewives and arguing for broader opportunities in education, work, and public life. This critique energized a new wave of organizing and advocacy in the 1960s and 1970s, including the founding of the National Organization for Women in 1966, which pushed for legal equality, workplace rights, reproductive rights, and cultural change. This era-focused movement stands in contrast to the earlier push for suffrage (First Wave) and to later waves that defined feminism in different ways.