second sex Essay - 13771 Words

SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR (1908-1986) THE SECOND SEX (Le Deuxieme Sexe) First published in 1949 English translation in 1953 by H.M. Parshley (New York: Knopf) Vintage Books paperback edition 1989 Introduction and Conclusion C.S. 204 AMERICAN UNIERSITY OF BEIRUT 1 THE SECOND SEX (Introduction and Conclusion) INTRODUCTION BOOK ONE: Part I Part II Part III FACTS AND MYTHS DESTINY HISTORY MYTHS BOOK TWO: Part IV Part V Part VI Part VI WOMANS LIFE TODAY THE FORMATIVE YEARS SITUATION JUSTIFICATIONS TOWARD LIBERATION CONCLUSION INTRODUCTION FOR A LONG TIME I have hesitated to write a book on woman. The subject is irritating especially to women; and it is not new. Enough ink has been†¦show more content†¦Thomas for his part pronounced woman to be an imperfect man, an incidental being. This is symbolized in Genesis where Eve is depicted as made from what Bossuet called a supernumerary bone of Adam. Thus humanity is male and man defines woman not in herself but as relative to him; she is not regarded as an autonomous being. Michelet writes: Woman, the relative being.... And Benda is most positive in his Rapport dUriel: The body of man makes sense in itself quite apart from that of woman, whereas the latter seems wanting in significance by itself. ... Man can think of himself without woman. She cannot think of herself without man. And she is simply what man decrees; thus she is called the sex, by which is meant that she appears essentially to the male as a sexual being. For him she is sex ? absolute sex, no less. She is defined and differentiated with reference to man and not he with reference to her; she is the incidental, the inessential as opposed to the essential. He is the Subject, he is the Absolute ? she is the Other.3 The category of the Other is as primordial as consciousness itself. In the most primitive societies, in the most ancient mythologies, one finds the expression of a duality ? that of the Self and the Other. This 2 The Kinsey Report [Alfred C. Kinsey and others: Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male (W.B. Saunders Co.,Show MoreRelatedThe Second Sex!1578 Words   |  7 Pagesnew role into society for women all over. However, the battle that seems to keep reappearing over time is the constant struggle between man and women and the fundamental question that still is left unanswered, who is inferior? In her novel, The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir discusses the role of women as being oppressed in the views of men who characterize women as â€Å"the other,† a very dehumanizing theory. For ever subject, there must be an object, â€Å"[A]t the moment when man asserts himself as subjectRead More The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir Essay1500 Words   |  6 PagesThe Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir In the chapter of her book The Second Sex entitled â€Å"the Woman in Love,† Simone de Beauvoir characterizes the romantic ideal of the relationship with a man as a woman’s purpose as a form of self-deception (translated here as â€Å"bad faith†). The self-deception de Beauvoir describes is based in the thesis of The Second Sex. This is the idea that women have been deceived into believing that they are second-class humans. Western culture, according to de BeauvoirRead MoreEssay on The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir2123 Words   |  9 Pages1949 text The Second Sex, examines the problems faced by women in Western society. She argues that women are subjugated, oppressed, and made to be inferior to males – simply by virtue of the fact that they are women. She notes that men define their own world, and women are merely meant to live in it. She sees women as unable to change the world like men can, unable to live their lives freely as men can, and, tra gically, mostly unaware of their own oppression. In The Second Sex, de Beauvoir describesRead MoreSexual Orientation By Simon De Bevour s The Second Sex Essay1492 Words   |  6 Pagesorientation has drawn consideration of the women s activist studies with the production of Simon de Bevour s The Second Sex (1949) and her strong affirmation that one is not conceived a lady: but instead gets to be one (cited in Freedman, 13-14). This has driven women s activist commentators to a refinement between physiological and social personalities of ladies. The term sex came to be comprehended to allude to the organic body called ladies; while, sexual orientation came to beRead MoreA feminist reading of Doris Lessing’s ‘To Room Nineteen’ and ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ by Robert Louis Stevenson using ideas discussed in ‘The Second Sex’ by Simone de Beauvoir2446 Words   |  10 Pages‘Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ by Robert Louis Stevenson using ideas discussed in ‘The Second Sex’ by Simone de Beauvoir. The concept of Simone de Beauvoir’s myth of women discussed in ‘The Second Sex’ was still very much prevalent in the 1960s when ‘To Room nineteen’ was set and certainly at the time of ‘Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’. In the 1960s, in accordance with the second wave of feminism, women were thought to be more conscious and aware of their rights as a woman becauseRead MoreAnalysis Of The Second Sex 1124 Words   |  5 Pagesway. If they falter, they are seen as strange and sometimes called names; this is especially true for women. According to society, man is woman’s better half, and many philosophers have shown interest in this correlation. Beauvoir, in her book The Second Sex, she talks about how women are the â€Å"other† and are seen as being less than men are. Also, Young explains in her paper, Throwing Like a Girl, how men and women approach certain obstacles differently. Along with Young’s, paper a com pany called AlwaysRead MoreThe Society Today, People Still Belittle Women And Treat Them Like Second Class Citizens1457 Words   |  6 PagesBruce Guu Raven Pfister Communication 412 5 May 2015 Theme Analysis In our society today, people still belittle women and treat them like second-class citizens. Women are just as important as men, if not better, and should be treated equally in society. I do acknowledge the fact that we are living in a heternormative society put upon us in the United States. As a heterosexual male, I see the bias, prejudice, and injustice that go toward gays, lesbians, transgenders, and woman. Even though some sayRead MoreEthical Implications Of Slut Shaming1523 Words   |  7 Pagessexually advanced because her body is more developed, 6. A woman who flirts with other girl’s boyfriends or has a lot of guy friends. For guys it’s much simpler, when a guy calls a woman a slut it means that he perceives her as somebody that has too much sex. An interesting thing that I have noticed is that most of the hate in today’s society pertaining to women comes from women themselves. If we can figure out why this is then we may be able to slowly eradicate the usage or the term â€Å"slut.† To women whoRead MoreBeauvoir s Feminist Beliefs : Simone De Beauvoir924 Words   |  4 Pagesnaturally equal either. Beauvoir wrote the book The Second Sex which holds many of her opinions towards feminism and is what many believe started the feminist movement. Many may think that Beauvoir was an extreme feminist trying to get women into every aspect of the world that men are in, but in reality she just wanted to see women appreciated better in life. She didn’t want to see society and the world mistreat women. With Beauvoir’s book The Second Sex she became â€Å"one of the most preeminent French existentialistRead MoreEssay on The Changing Status of Women1506 Words   |  7 Pagesworking outside the home, and in any case, there is cultural pressure, in the United States at least, for women to object to the traditional role in full and demand a more balanced distribution of the family workload. Beauvoir, in From The Second Sex, states, It is not the inferiority of women that has caused their historical insignificance; it is rather their historical insignificance that has doomed them to inferiority (179). I do not agree with Beauvoirs conclusion that women are doomed