Simone de Beauvoir

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

Macy HB

The question is how, in her, nature has been taken on in the course of history; the question is what humanity has made of the human female.

For all those suffering from an inferiority complex, there is a miraculous liniment; no one is more arrogant toward women, more aggressive or more disdainful, then a man anxious about his own virility.

One of the benefits that oppression secures for the oppressor is that the humblest among them feels superior: the most mediocre of males believes himself a demigod next to women.

As bourgeois women, they are in solidarity with bourgeois men and not with women proletarians; as white women, they are in solidarity with white men and not with black women…The tie that binds her to her oppressors is unlike any other.

Humanity is male, and man defines woman, not in herself, but in relation to himself; she is not considered an autonomous being.

A man never begins by positing himself as an individual of a certain sex.

embrace femininity, emotion etc, do not aspire to be manlike 

The defiant position that American women occupy proves they are haunted by the sentiment of their own femininity. 

And the burden of free love, Beauvoir would discover, was grossly unequal for a woman and for a man.

Like Woolf, and a striking number of other great women writers, Beauvoir was childless…she regarded motherhood as a threat to her integrity. 

Abeer A.

They live dispersed among the males, attached through resi- dence, housework, economic condition, and social standing to certain - fithers or husbands- more firmly than they are to other women. If they belong to the bourgeoisie, hey feel solidarity with men of that class, not with proletarian women; if they are white, their allegiance is to white men, not to Negro women. 

Riley

my brother's ex girlfriend bought this for me when they were still together. it said all you needed to know about that relationship. 10/10. gripping. 

philosophy is a little abstract and quite a difficult read, but I also read it when I was 16, frankly I skimmed through most of those but still. gripping theory. except for what she said about women turning gay when traumatized/pissed off by men i'm not sure how accurate that is. but yeah. debunk freud's penis envy theory yeah fuck him

claire sim qiu yan

my brother's ex girlfriend bought this for me when they were still together. it said all you needed to know about that relationship. 10/10. gripping. 

philosophy is a little abstract and quite a difficult read, but I also read it when I was 16, frankly I skimmed through most of those but still. gripping theory. except for what she said about women turning gay when traumatized/pissed off by men i'm not sure how accurate that is. but yeah. debunk freud's penis envy theory yeah fuck him

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

madi g

Extracts from the Second Sex

kyra

Why is something written over 70 years still relevant today for women? 
Beautifully articulated thoughts. Impressed with her integrating intersectionality so early on.
....I'll probably read the original.

"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.

Required reading for anyone who believes in the equality of the sexes. A long awaited, highly acclaimed new translation of Simone De Beauvoir's landmark work.

Anna Talbot

It took my 18 months to read it, not because it was dense or difficult, but because the subject matter is so frustrating. While I can’t wait to move on to another feminist classic, I will miss this book.

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.

Erlank Pienaar

Women. Understand them. This is the handbook. Amazing. Should be mandatory reading for all. Men and Women. 

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.

Sitte und Sexus der Frau

Das andere Geschlecht

Hannah Diethard

abbie banwell

Stephanie du Toit

Alice

Emily Burns

Ryan Greene

Shaq H

Lina.

Newly translated and unabridged in English for the first time, Simone de Beauvoir's masterwork is a powerful analysis of the Western notion of "woman," and a groundbreaking exploration of inequality and otherness. This long-awaited new edition reinstates significant portions of the original French text that were cut in the first English translation. Vital and groundbreaking, Beauvoir's pioneering and impressive text remains as pertinent today as it was sixty years ago, and will continue to provoke and inspire generations of men and women to come.

The Second Sex

Reviews

Highlights