2006年VOA标准英语-Leading American Feminist Betty Friedan Di

By Michael Bowman
Washington
05 February 2006

 
Feminist¹ author Betty Friedan responds during an interview in a New York hotel, May 10, 2000
  
American writer and women's rights activist² Betty Friedan died Saturday in Washington on her 85th birthday. Betty Friedan was the author of a pioneering and controversial 1963 book, called "The Feminine Mystique", which rejected the notion that a woman's worth should be measured only by her success as wife and mother. She also served as founder³ and first president of the National Organization for Women.

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The roles of women in American society, and the opportunities open to them, have changed radically⁴ during the past 50 years, a fact that Betty Friedan joyfully⁵ acknowledged in a 1989 interview.

"It happened very fast," she said. "From four percent or three percent of the women in medical school or law school, it is now 40 percent. Instead of just cooking the church suppers and the Hadassah bake sales, women are preaching sermons - Protestant ministers, Episcopal bishops⁶, Jewish rabbis, and they are demanding the right to be Catholic priests."

"They are running for office - and getting elected mayor and governor," continued Friedan. "They are flying and dying as astronauts. And the young women, my daughter's generation, takes it for granted."

Betty Friedan attributed many of these changes to the efforts of feminists⁷ like herself, who spent decades fighting gender⁸ stereotypes⁹, and struggling for laws that would end sex discrimination. She traced her own involvement in such efforts to her personal experience as homemaker and professional journalist.

Born in Peoria, Illinois, Betty Friedan studied psychology¹⁰, and later worked as a newspaper reporter. She was fired after becoming pregnant with her second child, and, soon after, began interviewing women about the realities of their lives as wives, mothers and homemakers. What she uncovered was a great deal of frustration¹¹, and a yearning¹² to make fuller use of talents and interests.

Her 1963 book, The Feminine Mystique, explored the tough decision most women faced: either to marry and abandon all hope of a career, or pursue a career and give up all hope of a family.

"From the mass media, and from all the organs of sophisticated thought, as well, there was only one image of woman, completely defined by her relation to man, housewife, mother, but never as a person defining herself by her own actions in society," she explained. "And that image was so absolutely pervasive¹³ in those years after World War II, that each one of these women felt she was alone, and there was something wrong with her. It absolutely wiped out of memory the hundred years battle for women's rights."

The book helped launch a movement, aimed at helping¹⁴ women realize their full potential.

In 1966, Betty Friedan became founder and first President of the National Organization for Women, a group dedicated¹⁵ to achieving equal rights for women. She also marched in picket¹⁶ lines, served as a government consultant¹⁷, helped organize a women's bank and taught and lectured around the world.

Her activities were often criticized by those who feared she was undermining the role of the traditional family. But Betty Friedan was also attacked by those within the women's movement, who felt she placed too much emphasis on family ties. Militant¹⁸ feminists were especially angered by her 1981 book The Second Stage, in which she urged women and men to join together in the struggle for equal rights.

Her final major published work was the 2000 memoir¹⁹, Life So Far, in which she touched upon the subject of domestic violence, drawing upon her own marriage, which ended in divorce in 1969.

Betty Friedan's survivors²⁰ include three children and nine grandchildren, living proof of her contention²¹ that women can have a profound impact on society without foregoing motherhood.

1 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

5 joyfully   

adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
• During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。

6 bishops   

（基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象

参考例句：

• Each player has two bishops at the start of the game. 棋赛开始时，每名棋手有两只象。
• "Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like. “他劫富济贫，抢的都是郡长、主教、国王之类的富人。

7 feminists   

n.男女平等主义者，女权扩张论者( feminist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Only 16 percent of young women in a 1990 survey considered themselves feminists. 在1990年的一项调查中，只有16%的年轻女性认为自己是女权主义者。 来自辞典例句
• The organization had many enemies, most notably among feminists. 这个组织有许多敌人，特别是在男女平等主义者中。 来自辞典例句

8 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

9 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

11 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

12 yearning   

a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的

参考例句：

• a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
• He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。

13 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

16 picket   

n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫

参考例句：

• They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
• Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。

17 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

18 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

19 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

20 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

21 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。