Betty Friedan

The woman who is said to have started second wave feminism. She was a psychologist who wrote the 'Feminine Mystique' which exposed the state of US women both inside the home as well as outside. She criticised "women's" magazines, pre "Ms" era, and especially Freud. She later went on to found the National Women's Organization (NOW). One could say that last year's Shriver report was very much a modern era 'Feminine Mystique' which only proves how much of an impact she has had on modern feminism.