levels. Betty Friedan, proclaimed the mother of the new feminist movement, describes the oppression of the American woman in The Feminist Mystique. She deems it a “problem with no name” and states that the stereotypes of the American woman put pressure on the average lady to be a house wife, and to be subordinate, which in turn robs the women of this country their right to be “all that they can be”. She defines the problem when saying that, “...the chains that bind her (the suburban housewife)...are chains made up of mistaken ideas and misinterpreted facts, or incomplete truths and unreal choices.” (Feminine Mystique 513) The liberation that feminists seek is renewal of spirit through reform in societal norms which have outgrown their birth in tradition.I am intrigued by commonalities which play a role in binding or tearing apart their society, but especially common characteristics which define a society, culture, or nationality. Nationalism, specifically, has played a part in so many different societies and cultures. It has evolved from a binding force into many different political ideologies. In Germany, objective traits brought together a split nation-state which had a common dream of a manifest destiny. It manifested and turned into fascism, and since its fall has started over on those basic building blocks of objective factors, and under different leadership and with different common ideals now, has evolved into a democratic system. The ideology of nationalism, to me, seems like a type of logos, or binding / transcendent force, which gives and has given birth to many different ideologies we have discovered. In the beginning of United States history, there existed a common desire for change, liberation, from unjust oppression. With self-determination, and an undying thirst for freedom, this newfound colonial nationalism gave way to a path of liberation. These same objective factors ...
