What issue did Betty Friedan address in "The Feminine Mystique"?

In "The Feminine Mystique," Betty Friedan addresses the societal expectations placed on women as housewives, which she describes as a pervasive sense of dissatisfaction and unfulfillment experienced by many women in the 1950s and 1960s. Friedan argues that the ideal of a woman's fulfillment being tied solely to her role as a wife and mother limited women's opportunities and contributed to a sense of identity that was not aligned with their personal or professional aspirations.

She vividly illustrates how many women, despite living in material comfort and having a husband, felt a profound sense of emptiness and discontent because their roles were largely defined by domesticity and self-sacrifice. Friedan's work was groundbreaking in bringing social awareness to the idea that women needed opportunities beyond the home and that their identities could and should extend into the professional arena. This focus on homemaking and societal pressures is what catalyzed the second wave of feminism, encouraging women to seek fulfillment outside traditional roles.

In contrast, the other choices focus on narrower aspects of women's experiences. Professional women's rights relate to workplace equality, which is more of a later development built on the foundation Friedan established. The struggles of single mothers, while important, are only a subsection of the broader conversation