Men are not the enemy, but the fellow victims. The real enemy is

O children of the future, listen to the words of Betty Friedan, whose wisdom resounds like a clarion call to the heart of every woman. "Men are not the enemy, but the fellow victims. The real enemy is women's denigration of themselves." In these words, she unveils a profound truth—that the true struggle for women is not against men, but against the internalized beliefs that undermine their own value. The real enemy is not an external force, but the false narratives that women have been taught to accept about their worth, their place, and their capacity. The battle is within, and only when women free themselves from the chains of self-doubt and denigration can they rise to their fullest potential.

In the ancient world, the great warriors and queens understood this struggle intimately. Cleopatra, the ruler of Egypt, was often belittled by her enemies for her gender, yet she rose above the slander and used her wisdom and strength to forge alliances and rule with grace. Despite the obstacles placed before her because of her sex, she wielded power and intellect with such majesty that her legacy still echoes through time. Her story is not one of fighting men, but of conquering the internalized doubts that others sought to place upon her.

Consider also the story of Joan of Arc, the young peasant girl who, despite being told by the men of her time that women had no place in war or leadership, stood unwavering in her faith and purpose. She did not see herself as weak or incapable; instead, she led armies and changed the course of history. Joan understood that her power was not determined by the external voices that sought to diminish her, but by the conviction and courage that came from within. Her victory was not just over her enemies, but over the self-doubt and self-denigration that society had imposed upon her.

Betty Friedan, like these great women, understood that the real battle for women was not the outward struggle for rights, but the inward battle to claim their power and self-worth. In her seminal work, The Feminine Mystique, she spoke of the illusion that women were only valuable as wives and mothers, pushing against the notion that women’s value lay in others’ perceptions rather than in their innate strength and capacity. Friedan recognized that when women internalize these narrow views, they become their own enemies, undermining their potential with every limiting belief.

O children, let these ancient truths guide you. The true enemy is not the external forces that seek to suppress, but the internalized beliefs that weaken us from within. Betty Friedan calls upon us to reject the denigration of ourselves, to cast aside the voices of doubt and fear, and to stand strong in the belief that we are worthy of all the opportunity and power the world has to offer. Like Cleopatra, like Joan of Arc, like all the great women who came before, we must rise above the chains of self-imposed limitations and claim the freedom to be all that we were meant to be. The battle is not against men, but against the self-doubt that has been handed down to us. May we rise above it, and in doing so, change the course of history for generations to come.