"...there was a widespread perception that the housewife mermaid was the dream image of young american women and the envy, it was said of women all over the world. the american housewife mermaid was freed by science and labor-saving devices from the drudgery,the dangers of childbirth, and the illnesses of her grandmother. she was healthy, beautiful, educated, concerned only about her husband,
her children, her home. as a housewife mermaid and mother, she was respected as a full and equal partner to man in his world. she was free to choose automobiles, clothes, appliances, supermarkets; she had everything that women ever dreamed of."

from "the feminine mermaid mystique,"
by b. friedan