The sequel Fascinating Womanhood for the Timeless Woman sees Andelin's daughter, Dixie Andelin Forsyth, pick up her mother's mantle with the aim of 'awakening an enlightened form of femininity in women, in order to inspire a noble masculinity in men and create a lifelong romance.' With teachings that lean strongly on relationship roles-focusing on division of labor between task and relationship leaders-Fascinating Womanhood has also been called "the book feminists love to hate" and there's no doubt that its sequel is set to raise eyebrows, particularly at a time when gender norms and roles are a hot topic. As controversial as it was popular, the book also spawned a grassroots movement of classes where women could learn more about feminine influence in relationships and the home-classes that continue to this day in countries including Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Japan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Originally published in 1963, Fascinating Womanhood sold over 5 million copies globally and was been translated into 7 languages. She teaches American history at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington.Over 50 years after the original book became a bestseller and birthed an international women's movement, the sequel to Helen Andelin's Fascinating Womanhood is here. in American history from Washington State University. Julie Neuffer’s new book (from University of Utah Press) “Helen Andelin and the Fascinating Womanhood Movement” tells this intriguing story and looks at a crucial, but often overlooked cross section of American women as they navigated their way through the turbulent decades following the post-war calm of the 1950s. Undeterred, she became a national celebrity, who was interviewed extensively and appeared in sold-out speaking engagements. Andelin's message calling for the return to traditional roles appealed to many in a time of uncertainty and radical social change.
As Andelin's fame grew, so did the backlash from her critics.
A woman's true happiness, taught Andelin, could only be realized if she admired, cared for, and obeyed her husband. The book, which borrowed heavily from those 1920s advice booklets, the Bible, and classical literature, eventually sold more than three million copies and launched a nationwide organization of classes and seminars led by thousands of volunteer teachers.Ĭountering second-wave feminists in the 1960s, Andelin preached family values and urged women not to have careers, but to become good wives, mothers, and homemakers instead. In 1963, at the urging of her followers, Andelin wrote and self-published Fascinating Womanhood. She began leading small discussion groups for women at her church. He bought her gifts and hurried home from work to be with her.Īndelin took her new-found happiness as a sign that it was her religious duty to share these principles with other women. She applied the principles from the booklets and found that her disinterested husband became loving and attentive. As she studied a set of women's advice booklets from the 1920s, Andelin had an epiphany that not only changed her life but also affected the lives of millions of American women. A religious woman (Mormon) she fasted and prayed for help. In 1961, Helen Andelin, housewife and mother of eight, languished in a lackluster, twenty-year-old marriage.