How did betty friedan and gloria steinem contribute to the feminist movement during the 1960s and 1970s?

Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem are considered mothers and forerunners of the feminist movement in the United States that began in the twentieth century and is now a wave that covers several countries in the world in the struggle for women's freedom to decide their own fate.

These two women gave great contributions to the feminist movement and were scandalous in their time, however, their legacy remains in force and is summarized below:

Betty Friedan

She was a social psychologist who rose to fame in 1963 with the publication of her book "The mystique of femininity", which expressed the general feeling of women who felt imprisoned in their roles as mothers and housewives to fulfill what "was established for them".

This book was written based on her own experiences, since she lived in the decade of the 50s, in the postwar society, where it was established that the greatest desire of a woman was to marry and have children. In fact, she had to abandon jobs and aspirations when she got married. This is how in her book she affirms that the reality was different, with cities full of homes with frustrated women.

Notably, this book was very controversial for her time, but this gave her the impetus to become the co-founder and first president of NOW (National Organization of Women) in 1966.

Gloria Steinem

She is a famous journalist and writer born in the United States, is considered a role model for the feminist movement together with Friedan, although some do not consider her the prototype of a feminist woman.

Steinem has published several articles, but the one that made her a leader of the feminist movement was the one published in 1969, entitled "After Black Power, Women's Liberation".

She is also a symbol of the fight against cancer to have overcome the breast cancer diagnosed in 1986.