Friedan Speech

In the next stage of the women's movement the traditionally defined roles of both sexes will evolve toward greater equality, Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique, said yesterday before 80 people at the Cronkhite Graduate Center.

As women continue to join the work-force and parents share child-rearing responsibilities, "men will demand employers provide child care programs and greater flexibility in working hours because they will want them for themselves," she said.

"Woman have to risk creating new patterns," Friedan said. Friedan also stressed that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) must be ratified to assure the continued progress of the women's movement.

"You can't rest on the assumption that equality is here to stay," Friedan said. "I don't want to see a generation of lonely, tired, bitter women in the next few years in backlash against what I have worked so hard for," she added.

Friedan's speech opened a conference this weekend on dual career families sponsored by the Cronkhite Center.