Characters from The Feminine Mystique

Character Descriptions

This section provides a short description of all the major characters in the book. This can be printed out as a study guide for students, used as a "key" for leading a class discussion, or you can jump to the quiz/homework section to find worksheets that incorporate these descriptions into a variety of question formats.

Characters

Sigmund Freud - This psychologist tried to define life in completely sexual terms, and coined the idea of "penis envy" and "phallic activity".

A. C. Kinsey - This researcher conducted many sex surveys.

The Manipulator - This is the person, or team, that is responsible for exploiting women's unfulfilled desires as a marketing strategy.

A. H. Maslow - This scientist defined the human hierarchy of needs, and that all humans strive to fulfill their basic physiological needs first, but then need to fulfill their psychological needs.

Margaret Mead - This was one of...
(read more)