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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
we did it kids
(in all seriousness, this is a great Foundational Feminist Text™ and well worth a read, even though some of her ideas were off (her ideas about lesbianism are #wild) and it takes a bit of work to understand her context. I'd love to take a class that examines this work on a meta-textual level intertwined with a study of Beauvoir's life, because some of the claims she makes are so strongly worded that I'd bet there are roots in her life experiences.)
(in all seriousness, this is a great Foundational Feminist Text™ and well worth a read, even though some of her ideas were off (her ideas about lesbianism are #wild) and it takes a bit of work to understand her context. I'd love to take a class that examines this work on a meta-textual level intertwined with a study of Beauvoir's life, because some of the claims she makes are so strongly worded that I'd bet there are roots in her life experiences.)
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
What is there to say about one of the most thorough feminist texts in the world?
De Beauvoir takes a systemic tour through the entire world historically, biologically, psychologically, etc. in effort to explore the roots behind the subjugation of women. Women have been designated "other," "Object," the Second Sex. Masculinity is considered neutral or positive, while femininity is exclusively considered negative. And for what? To what end? As de Beauvoir deduces, there is no basis - biological, psychological, or otherwise - for women's condition. Rather, her social standing has kept her trapped under patriarchal domination. De Beauvoir underlines a search for transcendence, for self-actualization, for people to become fully human. In a way, that is the universal longing - but while men have equal access to that transcendence, it is almost impossibly blocked for women. Every step towards self-actualization and purpose comes with a curse; there is catharsis in motherhood, but it doesn't come with life-altering pain, and it never lasts. The working woman frees herself from the reigns of marriage, but not without sacrificing the sort of security that society gifts the married couple. Over 800 pages, de Beauvoir unpacks nearly every conceivable angle of 1900s womanhood, finding no "eternal feminine" beyond the history of oppression. For all the shit the Barbie movie gets about being Intro Feminism, the fact that the Kens in that movie unite over being "Just Ken!" while the Barbies unite over their shared experience of subjugation paints a picture not unlike the one de Beauvoir develops here.
It's perhaps damning that, for all her thoroughness, de Beauvoir doesn't seem to see a clear way out. She openly lives in a time of transition, where things are improving, but also lives in a time of growing complacency and comfortability. Her call to action is a fairly general plea to work for socioeconomic equality. And maybe it really is that simple, and we are just so prone to self-sabotage. There's a lot of Freudian psychoanalysis in this book that I simply will never care for, but de Beauvoir presents Freud possibly better than anyone else ever has - in her explorations of neuroses, she does well at setting up the anxious insecurities that drive people towards power or subjugation. These neuroses set up patterns of generational trauma that self-sustain patriarchal oppression. Is awareness alone enough to overcome these patterns and work towards an equal society?
Anyways obviously I could say a lot more because this is The textbook and there are a lot of different ideas at play here. An overwhelming amount of ideas! Especially given the first section is really what's most interesting, while the second section is just an exploration of how those ideas work in practice. But this is The textbook for a reason, and that reason is that it is about as thorough as you could possibly get. As I've said, an incredible resource for the history of exploitation and subjugation of women, perhaps less of a good resource for how to overcome that history.
De Beauvoir takes a systemic tour through the entire world historically, biologically, psychologically, etc. in effort to explore the roots behind the subjugation of women. Women have been designated "other," "Object," the Second Sex. Masculinity is considered neutral or positive, while femininity is exclusively considered negative. And for what? To what end? As de Beauvoir deduces, there is no basis - biological, psychological, or otherwise - for women's condition. Rather, her social standing has kept her trapped under patriarchal domination. De Beauvoir underlines a search for transcendence, for self-actualization, for people to become fully human. In a way, that is the universal longing - but while men have equal access to that transcendence, it is almost impossibly blocked for women. Every step towards self-actualization and purpose comes with a curse; there is catharsis in motherhood, but it doesn't come with life-altering pain, and it never lasts. The working woman frees herself from the reigns of marriage, but not without sacrificing the sort of security that society gifts the married couple. Over 800 pages, de Beauvoir unpacks nearly every conceivable angle of 1900s womanhood, finding no "eternal feminine" beyond the history of oppression. For all the shit the Barbie movie gets about being Intro Feminism, the fact that the Kens in that movie unite over being "Just Ken!" while the Barbies unite over their shared experience of subjugation paints a picture not unlike the one de Beauvoir develops here.
It's perhaps damning that, for all her thoroughness, de Beauvoir doesn't seem to see a clear way out. She openly lives in a time of transition, where things are improving, but also lives in a time of growing complacency and comfortability. Her call to action is a fairly general plea to work for socioeconomic equality. And maybe it really is that simple, and we are just so prone to self-sabotage. There's a lot of Freudian psychoanalysis in this book that I simply will never care for, but de Beauvoir presents Freud possibly better than anyone else ever has - in her explorations of neuroses, she does well at setting up the anxious insecurities that drive people towards power or subjugation. These neuroses set up patterns of generational trauma that self-sustain patriarchal oppression. Is awareness alone enough to overcome these patterns and work towards an equal society?
Anyways obviously I could say a lot more because this is The textbook and there are a lot of different ideas at play here. An overwhelming amount of ideas! Especially given the first section is really what's most interesting, while the second section is just an exploration of how those ideas work in practice. But this is The textbook for a reason, and that reason is that it is about as thorough as you could possibly get. As I've said, an incredible resource for the history of exploitation and subjugation of women, perhaps less of a good resource for how to overcome that history.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
reflective
slow-paced
One can see why this is a seminal work on feminism, but it is a work of its time, even if some of the things highlighted are still relevant in current times. Had I read this earlier in my life, no doubt it would be more revelatory; however, I have read similar works that touched upon the same themes and arguments, so I skipped the ones which were of no interest to me. This was also too white- and western-centric feminism for my taste. Some great “aha!” moments in the book, but overall it wasn’t as impactful for me as it may be for others.
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced