Betty Friedan, who died on yesterday on her birthday, was instrumental in opening the eyes of American women to the fact that they could choose their own path in life. Her book, The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963, really brought about a crisis in science, as Thomas Kuhn calls it in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Before her book society had been very comfortable in the woman's role in life...but Friedan changed all of that. I only read Friedan's book recently when my daughter thought I should become more enlightened about feminism. However, today the Chicago Tribune writes that the initial reaction to Friedan's book wasn't positive. She was told to seek psychiatric help and was called "more of threat to the United States than the Russians. She was shunned by her friends, and her kids were kicked out of carpools. However, the Tribune quotes futurist Alvin Toffer as saying the book "pulled the trigger on history" and launched a tumultuous decade for women. Kuhn would call this this creating a scientific revolution.

As a matter of fact, three very important women in American history have died recently, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, and now Betty Friedan. All of them were integral in making important societal changes, and their courage was amazing.

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