Betty has been considered an embodiment of “the problem that has no name” chronicled in the seminal 1963 feminist novel The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. The novel examined the epidemic of unhappiness and dissatisfaction experienced by many upper middle class housewives in the 1960s (like Betty) due to their inability to form their own identity and life outside the home. This cultural phenomenon is explored in the series through Betty, who, unlike female characters such as Peggy and Joan, is trapped and "exiled from the career world" due to her upbringing, social class, education, and marital status.
