The problem . . was a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century in the united states. each suburban wife struggled with it alone. as she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, . . lay beside her husband at night--she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question--"is this all? " . . the feminine mystique by betty friedan according to the excerpt, what were most women feeling?