That said, the idea and understanding of female dissatisfaction described in Friedan's article is presented as a serious epidemic and a more serious social condition than it actually was. In this essay I argue that Betty Friedan's Feminine Mystique serves to highlight the crucial role that the media, magazine publishers, and marketers played in establishing women's social roles after World War II and, ultimately, in constructing what became known as the feminine mystique, but life for housewives during this time could have been much worse. Describing this unequal treatment of women as a progressive dehumanization and as a comfortable concentration camp is absurd, dramatic and offensive. These women were not at all imprisoned in their homes or forced to live as housewives. Yes, being a housewife and dedicating one's life to marriage and starting a family was considered a social norm, but it was not an absolute law. With The Feminine Mystique women were able to find the answer to their problems as housewives and seek alternative happiness, but equating this lifestyle with a form of torture or hell on Earth is ridiculous (Friedan