How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir

How to Lose Your Mother operates within the broader cultural framework of generational shifts in feminist thought, offering a unique perspective on the legacy and limitations of second-wave feminism through the lens of a daughter examining her famous feminist mother’s life and decline.

Second-wave feminism emerged in the 1960s and reached its peak in the 1970s, building upon the first wave’s focus on legal rights to address broader issues of social equality, workplace discrimination, reproductive rights, and sexual liberation. Exemplified by works like Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) and organizations like the National Organization for Women (NOW), second-wave feminism challenged the post-World War II domestic ideology that confined women to roles as wives and mothers. Second-wave feminists advocated for equal pay, access to contraception and abortion, childcare support, and the dismantling of legal and social barriers that prevented women from entering professions and pursuing careers. The movement emphasized consciousness-raising groups, where women shared personal experiences to understand how individual problems reflected systemic oppression. This wave of feminism was also characterized by its focus on sexual liberation as a form of empowerment, challenging traditional notions of female sexuality and advocating for women’s right to express their desires freely.