"Betty Friedan was one of the feminists particularly worried about lesbians. Friedan authored The Feminine Mystique, a 1963 book that revealed the dissatisfaction many women felt with traditional roles. It helped inspire second-wave feminism, although it was criticized for its focus on affluent white straight women. In 1966, Friedan and others founded the National Organization for Women, which became the leading U.S. feminist group."
"At a 1969 NOW meeting, Friedan declared that the movement was being threatened by a "lavender menace," that is, lesbians. "Mainstream media had already dismissed the feminist movement as 'a bunch of bra-burning lesbians,' so Friedan and other straight feminist leaders were acutely sensitive to this labeling - and dismissal - of all feminists as lesbians," Victoria A. Brownworth wrote in a column published by The Advocate in 2023. "Friedan wanted 'feminine feminists' in the movement.""
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, second-wave feminism gained momentum but faced widespread skepticism and ridicule. Feminist protests, such as the 1968 Miss America demonstration, fueled public mockery and the "women's lib" caricature. Some mainstream feminist leaders feared that association with lesbians would damage public support. Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique and a founder of the National Organization for Women, labeled lesbians a "lavender menace" and helped purge lesbian activists from NOW, removing figures like Rita Mae Brown and Ivy Bottini. Lesbian feminists resisted and organized to oppose exclusion and remain active within the movement.
Read at Advocate.com
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