A woman is handicapped by her sex, and handicaps society, either

Hear the bold declaration of Betty Friedan, mother of modern awakening: “A woman is handicapped by her sex, and handicaps society, either by slavishly copying the pattern of man’s advance in the professions, or by refusing to compete with man at all.” These are not words of despair, but of reckoning, carved in fire to awaken both women and men to the chains that bind them. Friedan does not speak of weakness, but of distortion—of a society that forces women into molds that serve neither them nor the common good.

The origin of this truth lies in the mid-20th century, when women, after the wars of the world, were urged back into the home, their ambitions clipped, their worth measured in obedience and silence. Yet the world was shifting. Women entered universities, offices, and professions, but were told they must either mimic the pathways of men, suppressing their own gifts, or else retreat entirely, surrendering the arena of achievement. In both paths, Friedan saw a tragedy: the loss of women’s unique voice, and the impoverishment of the society that silenced it.

Consider the story of the women who served during World War II. They built ships, flew planes, nursed the wounded, and managed industries while men were at war. They proved themselves capable in every field. Yet when peace returned, they were told to leave those positions and return to kitchens, as though their power had been only borrowed, never truly theirs. Many complied, and many resisted—but in both choices lay the conflict Friedan named. To merely imitate the footsteps of men was to live in shadow. To withdraw altogether was to abandon the light of possibility. Thus, society suffered, for it lost the creativity, the insight, and the balance that women might have brought in full freedom.

The meaning of Friedan’s words is not that women are lesser, but that society itself cripples when it denies them the freedom to forge their own way. Handicapped by sex does not mean nature’s flaw, but culture’s cage—laws, customs, and expectations that bind like invisible chains. And when women are bound, society too is bound. For no nation can rise to greatness when half its people are stifled, or when their contributions are measured only in mimicry or absence.

Yet, Friedan’s challenge is also heroic: she calls for a new pattern, one that neither copies nor rejects, but creates. A pattern where women enter every profession not as echoes of men, nor as absentees, but as pioneers bringing their own visions, their own rhythms, their own strength. For the progress of humanity does not lie in uniformity, but in diversity of voices, joined together in freedom.

The lesson is this: true liberation comes not from copying another, nor from abandoning the field, but from daring to create new models of being. Women must claim their space, not as reflections, but as equals, shaping professions, institutions, and nations with their own distinct wisdom. And men, too, must learn to see that equality does not diminish them, but enlarges the whole of society. The advancement of one sex at the cost of the other is a victory hollow and dangerous. The advancement of both is a triumph that endures.

What then shall you do? Encourage the women in your life not only to enter the arenas of work, leadership, and creativity, but to shape them anew. Celebrate their differences as strengths, not as obstacles. Teach your daughters to compete, yes, but not to copy slavishly; to innovate, to lead, to redefine. Teach your sons to walk not ahead nor behind, but beside. And when you yourself encounter the boundaries of expectation, do not bow to them—challenge them, for each broken barrier frees not only you, but all who come after.

So let Betty Friedan’s words ring as both warning and prophecy: woman, sex, society, handicapped, compete. The chains of expectation have long held humanity captive. But when women cease to be bound—neither mimicking men’s narrow path nor retreating in silence—then society itself shall rise unshackled. And in that rising, the world will discover its truest freedom.