Betty Friedan Quotes

I was in college in the '60s, and the whole feminist movement had swept me up.

I'm really inspired by the power of the individual. People like Gloria Steinem.

Let's all go and be feminists in the pub.

I think Pussy Riot is amazing. I'm honored that they were inspired by riot grrl, and obviously they're making history around the world.

I have come to understand that in order to effectively advance women's rights, we need to galvanize a global women's movement.

I couldn't find anyone doing something about the astounding injustices women were experiencing, so I decided to do something myself. I cannot tell you how many people ridiculed my efforts.

I was supposed to be women's lib, and now I'd exceeded it and gone over into international politics.

Women's issues have always been a part of my life. My goal is to bring the word 'feminism' back into the zeitgeist and reframe it.

I do not consider myself a feminist. I do not believe that by doing female-oriented films that depict a woman fighting the system, we can change the system.

I never want to sound preachy about youth and feminism, but I feel like there aren't enough young people coming out about their concerns and opinions.

I got more and more politically active and just followed the course of feminism and sexual liberation.

I wish that I had bridged the feminist movement and the anti-war movement better than I did.

I'm a feminist; I grew up with feminism, but I also think there's a way in which we need to shake things up so that we can push it further and in other directions.

I was a woman writing at the early moment when small drops of worried resentment and noble rage were secretly, slowly building into the second wave of the women's movement. I didn't know my small-drop presence or usefulness in this accumulation.

In the late sixties, when revolution and upheaval were everywhere, feminists were ridiculed for focusing on housework.

Let women issue a declaration of independence sexually, and absolutely refuse to cohabit with men until they are acknowledged as equals in everything, and the victory would be won in a single week.

When I started working on women's history about thirty years ago, the field did not exist…. People didn't think that women had a history worth knowing

In no sense of the word am I in sympathy with women’s suffrage ….I have no vote and I’ve raised hell all over this country.

The very same people who 40 years ago were saying that feminism was unnatural and unnecessary are now saying “Well, it used to be necessary, but it’s not any more.”

You may hiss as much as you please, but women will get their rights anyway. You can’t stop us, neither

I don't think I was a catalyst for the women's movement.

I was the first woman to burn my bra - it took the fire department four days to put it out.

There are real consequences when women speak out. It's really dangerous, and it takes real courage. We are still speaking out against a white male majority. Forget the glass ceiling. We haven't even broken the glass floor!

The feminists taught us about consciousness-raising.

When I was growing up, the current of feminism was strong. You just had to step off the bank, and you'd be swept up. There was an active women's movement. My mother was a part of it.