350 Dorothy Chansky simply equivalent to the real person:it is the version of self jack nicholson performs in the discursive domain of movie stardom."3 Stardom as a discursive realm is a use- ful lens for assessing Betty Friedan the performative presence.A 1970 feature on her for the women's magazine McCall's took up her "famous"bad manners,but quoted Betty Rollin-a longtime close friend of Friedan's-to justify the behavior:"Betty is a star....Once you know that,everything else falls into place."3 What stars have that exceeds talent and technique-that is,what sets them apart from equally diligent, well-trained,and skillful colleagues-is "It,"something recently defined by Joseph Roach as the"hard-to-define quality possessed by abnormally interesting people. Using synonyms he finds popular yet insufficient,"such as charm,charisma,and pres- ence,"Roach notes that an actor with "It"can permit himself anything,including bad behavior and irritating ticks:"All that is rcquired of him-or herself is that he come out on the stage as frequently and remain as long as possible.For their pains,though, actors with"It"are often punished by the audience with social isolation:"a fate their gifts cannot defer but might actually hasten."4 Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz's Smith Alumnae Quarterly piece is a case in point. The Betty Friedan who drew crowds and adoring fans around the world fits the star profile-a person with a saleable persona whose personality was not fully disclosed in many public speaking or rally contexts.Certainly the personality was not wholly absent from the persona and the "bad behavior"was hardly restricted to appearances behind closed doors,but in the contexts determined by her stardom rather than her domestic or community relations,such behavior did not cut to the personal(audience members')quick and may have added to the legend.My point here is that text,con- text,and performance feed one another over the course of a career,and,in Friedan's case,offer a matrix for considering both the mother of modern feminism and women (in and outside)theatre today. Feminism Beyond the Second Wave Friedan famously rebuffed sexual politics in the women's movement as a distraction from the issues that were always at the heart of her activism:equality under the law, and the opportunity for men and women alike to work and to raise children and to do so with legal support and no cultural penalties.43 Her 1981 book,The Second Stage, Ibid. Lyn Tornabene,"The Liberation of Betty Friedan,"in Interviews with Betty Friedan,25-34,quote on26. 4 Joseph Roach,"It,"Theatre Journal 56,no.4(2004):555-68. 41bid,555,556,557,and561. In"The Liberation of Betty Friedan,"Tomabene notes that"destiny is capricious about packaging heroes"(27).Recalling Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz's remark about Friedan's ineligibility for sainthood. it is worth remembering that saints achieve status only in part for their actual work.The process of canonization exists in the realm of politics and bureaucracy. Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre in the years since How to Succeed have grappled with do- mesticity,marriage,and motherhood as both haven and trap for women.Well-known plays have also examined the glass ceiling,the issue of careers as possible impediments to satisfaction in the domestic realm,and,recently,dead-end work in the blue-collar sector.These include most of Wendy Wasserstein's oeuvre,Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart,Marsha Norman's 'night,Mother,Joan Holden's Nickel and Dimed (based on Barbara Ehrenreich's book of the same title),I.ennart,Styne,and Merrill's Funny Girl, Claire Chaffee's Why We llave a Body,and Naomi Wallace's Slaughter City.Two generations of women escape from the prejudices and depression of housewifedom in Tony Kushner's Angels in America. This content downloaded from 183.195.251.166 on Sat,16 Jan 2016 12:04:58 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions350 / Dorothy Chansky simply equivalent to the real person; it is the version of self Jack Nicholson performs in the discursive domain of movie stardom."38 Stardom as a discursive realm is a use￾ful lens for assessing Betty Friedan the performative presence. A 1970 feature on her for the women's magazine McCall's took up her "famous" bad manners, but quoted Betty Rollin - a longtime close friend of Friedan' s - to justify the behavior: "Betty is a star. . . . Once you know that, everything else falls into place."39 What stars have that exceeds talent and technique - that is, what sets them apart from equally diligent, well-trained, and skillful colleagues - is "It," something recently defined by Joseph Roach as the "hard-to-define quality possessed by abnormally interesting people."40 Using synonyms he finds popular yet insufficient, "such as charm, charisma, and pres￾ence," Roach notes that an actor with "It" can permit himself anything, including bad behavior and irritating ticks: "All that is required of him-or herself is that he come out on the stage as frequently and remain as long as possible." For their pains, though, actors with "It" are often punished by the audience with social isolation: "a fate their gifts cannot defer but might actually hasten."41 Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz's Smith Alumnae Quarterly piece is a case in point. The Betty Friedan who drew crowds and adoring fans around the world fits the star profile - a person with a saleable persona whose personality was not fully disclosed in many public speaking or rally contexts. Certainly the personality was not wholly absent from the persona and the "bad behavior" was hardly restricted to appearances behind closed doors, but in the contexts determined by her stardom rather than her domestic or community relations, such behavior did not cut to the personal (audience members') quick and may have added to the legend.42 My point here is that text, con￾text, and performance feed one another over the course of a career, and, in Friedan's case, offer a matrix for considering both the mother of modern feminism and women (in and outside) theatre today. Feminism Beyond the Second Wave Friedan famously rebuffed sexual politics in the women's movement as a distraction from the issues that were always at the heart of her activism: equality under the law, and the opportunity for men and women alike to work and to raise children and to do so with legal support and no cultural penalties.43 Her 1981 book, The Second Stage, 38 Ibid. 39 Lyn Tornabene, 'The Liberation of Betty Friedan/' in Interviews with Betty Friedan, 25-34, quote on 26. 40 Joseph Roach, "It," Theatre Journal 56, no. 4 (2004): 555-68. 41 Ibid., 555, 556, 557, and 561. 42 In "The Liberation of Betty Friedan/' Tornabene notes that "destiny is capricious about packaging heroes" (27). Recalling Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz's remark about Friedan's ineligibility for sainthood, it is worth remembering that saints achieve status only in part for their actual work. The process of canonization exists in the realm of politics and bureaucracy. 43 Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre in the years since How to Succeed have grappled with do￾mesticity, marriage, and motherhood as both haven and trap for women. Well-known plays have also examined the glass ceiling, the issue of careers as possible impediments to satisfaction in the domestic realm, and, recently, dead-end work in the blue-collar sector. These include most of Wendy Wasserstein's oeuvre, Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart, Marsha Norman's 'night, Mother, Joan Holden's Nickel and Dimed (based on Barbara Ehrenreich's book of the same title), Lennart, Styne, and Merrill's Funny Girl, Claire Chaffee's Why We Have a Body, and Naomi Wallace's Slaughter City. Two generations of women escape from the prejudices and depression of housewifedom in Tony Kushner's Angels in America. This content downloaded from 183.195.251.166 on Sat, 16 Jan 2016 12:04:58 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions