The “feminine mystique” and problems of a cohort of female Canadian university students in the early 1960s

Abstract

In 1963 Betty Friedan pointed out that as a result of a “feminine mystique,” “college girls” in the United States were immature, bored, and more interested in getting a man than in their studies. In this examination of students entering Glendon College in Toronto in 1963 I point out that there is also some evidence pointing to the existence of a feminine mystique in Canada; however, I find that Friedan’s characterization of female American students is only partially applicable to their Canadian counterparts on one Canadian campus.