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4.11 AVERAGE

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced
challenging informative inspiring slow-paced

Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex is a dense tome of philosophical theory and literature review regarding various facets of femininity and feminism as a whole. Maybe because I'm relatively well-versed in feminist theory as a late-20s cis woman with an interest in gender theory, but to me there aren't necessarily any particularly revolutionary ideas within this text. In fact, I feel like it could probably be 200-300 pages shorter and pack just as powerful a punch--I did find that some sections tended to drag on or circle an idea a few times before committing to a message--but it stands as an excellent sociological artifact of the time it was written, which gives it a historical importance that outweighs anything that may be somewhat obsolete in our modern era (such as her sections on biology and lesbianism). I do think it's a solid read for anyone with an interest in feminism or womanhood!

This book changed my life. It is EXACTLY what I needed to read in this period of my growth and development as a person. It is outstanding. It bombarded me with a plethora of insights, knowledge, past personal memories, reflections and even inspiration for future personal projects. I am SO incredibly thankful to Simone for writing this masterpiece of a book.
informative reflective

Part 1: Jan 3-Jan 15

incredibly long and dense. will try again in the future
jaimejames's profile picture

jaimejames's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 64%

I think this is a great philosophy book on feminist topics and I may return to it at some point but for now, I need to put it down. 
informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced