I found Progressive Dehumanization: to be incredibly and surprisingly persuasive, and enlightening, and I think that this is the case because of the way it was written. Rather than begin the chapter from a 'feminist' standpoint, Friedan addresses problems among children, adolescents, and then general youth of America. While I personally have not experienced this sense of passivity that is described in relation to education in particular, I feel that I have been subconsciously witnessing it every day. In retrospect I can now, unfortunately, place many of my peers into this category of the lifeless and lost. Friedan's logic surprised me in that it was so simple and true: we notice the passivity first in males. I found this to be especially true when I studied abroad in Spain, a country that is notable less developed in terms of feminism and the rights of women in general. A new word has sprung into the Spanish vocabulary to describe the lazy youth; literally translated it means, " To not work or study". Thousands of college aged youth in Spain have recently been categorized into an apathetic group who only feel the need to wake up in the morning, feed themselves, watch tv for entertainment, and then go back to sleep.

When I conducted a survey on campus to better acquaint myself with the consensus of the youth who chose to study, I was frightened to find that of the 5 individuals that I found to be concerned with the situation, only 1 was female. More often than not, the women attending University were not concerned with their course of study, nor were they incredibly passionate about what they were learning. Rather, they were subconsciously reaffirming the social trend of a patriarchal society by admitting to themselves and the general public that after college they would most likely marry, keep house, and work a menial job to create extra income for the family.

Though this example comes from another culture, I can't help but also think that many of my collegiate peers allow themselves to set the bar lower from the start of their college careers, because they never anticipated having a full fledged career. How could you when ultimately there will be children to take care of? As I think back I can even remember faint snippets of conversations i've overheard in which the going gets tough, so women change their majors. Could this be a direct result of the apathy explained by Friedan? My ruminations may seem incredibly simplistic, however I have never(until now perhaps) considered myself a feminist thinker or expert, and I found this second chapter to be incredibly enlightening even if only on a personally psychological level.