Name: After The Second Sex
Rating: 3.940298507462686 (67 reviews)

Simone de Beauvoir

Alice Schwarzer

Interviews clarify de Beauvoir's opinions on feminism, the condition of women, her relationship with Sartre, politics, maternity, and love

Conversations with Simone de Beauvoir

After The Second Sex

Of all the writing that emerged from the existentialist movement, Simone de Beauvoir's groundbreaking study of women will probably have the most extensive and enduring impact. It is at once a work of anthropology and sociology, of biology and psychoanalysis, from the pen of a writer and novelist of penetrating imaginative power. THE SECOND SEX stands, four decades after its first appearance, as the first landmark in the modern feminist upsurge that has transformed perceptions of the social relationship of man and womankind in our time.

The Second Sex

“this subject is irritating , especially to women; and it is now new” just a killer way to start your piece 

madi g

"Nous commencerons par discuter les points de vue pris sur la femme par la biologie, la psychanalyse, le matérialisme historique. Nous essaierons de montrer ensuite positivement comment la "réalité féminine" s'est constituée, pourquoi la femme a été définie comme l'Autre et quelles en ont été les conséquences du point de vue des hommes. Alors nous décrirons du point de vue des femmes le monde tel qu'il leur est proposé ; et nous pourrons comprendre à quelles difficultés elles se heurtent au moment où, essayant de s'évader de la sphère qui leur a été jusqu'à présent assignée, elles prétendent participer au mitsein humain." Simone de Beauvoir.

Le deuxième sexe (Tome 1) - Les faits et les mythes

Alizée Euphrosine

A book that I'm happy to have read in French.

This book is complex to read and understand. So, to help me, like for most non-fiction, I listen to the audiobook simultaneously, as I knew that it was a difficult book due to the language used (polished), and I didn't want to miss anything. 

Even if it's a complex book, I found it very interesting. I like how it's constructed. You see in different domains how women are seen and understood. That way, you have a great idea of where this comes from and how all those various fields shape the way women should be in our societies.

In French, the edition is divided into two, and I will read the second part. However, I will need to re-read this one as I'm sure that I miss some important points.

Riley

I read the 2011 translation by Borde and Malovany-Chevallier. This is a beast of a book to get through, but it is worth reading. I recommend reading it in parts, out of order, and not getting bogged down in the syntax.

The classic manifesto of the liberated woman, this book explores every facet of a woman's life.

Le Deuxième Sexe

João Ferreira

The bad thing about this book is it won't be read by those who need it the most. I suppose that's true for most great books, but the subject of this one is of an importance and scale that it really begs the statement. That said, everyone should read it. Even if you're a die-hard equal rights proponent, you should read it.

Simone gives us an essay detailing woman's role in society over the ages, and across multiple civilizations. How that role was determined by a mix of economics, biology and a huge influence from patriarchal power. Ultimately, we are shown how woman today - her achievements, success, role, behavior; who she is - is a result of this controlled evolution rather than an inherent genetic trait. We are shown also, by way of comparison but in less detail, that the same happens to man.

Everyone should read this book because we tend to forget that no one had any say on who they are, and who they are determines who they can be. Even if we know this, intuitively or otherwise, it's much more convenient to play dumb and blame everyone for what they "choose" to be or are (in)capable of doing. We can say that it's their own decision, we have nothing to do with it, at the same time feeling good about ourselves for what we've achieved because it was surely 100% on us.

The Second Sex gives us many mental tools to avoid this lazy thought pattern.

It also gives us hope: however bad inequality is nowadays - in this particular case as it applies to gender - one can argue that it is much better than in Simone's time, not to mention the past ages she describes. However far we are from balance, we feel the momentum weighing in the right direction. All we have to do is keep it up.

Oscar Kömpel

Estelle

Das berühmte Standardwerk von Simone de Beauvoir. Die universelle Standortbestimmung der Frau, die aus jahrtausendealter Abhängigkeit von männlicher Vorherrschaft ausgebrochen ist, hat nichts an Gültigkeit eingebüßt. Die Scharfsichtigkeit der grundlegenden Analyse tritt in der Neuübersetzung noch deutlicher hervor.

After The Second Sex Conversations with Simone de Beauvoir

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