A review by withlivjones
Extracts From: The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

informative reflective slow-paced

3.25

I think this is the kind of book I need to reread a few times before I fully ‘get’ it. As it stands, this is an informative introduction to a very important (and hefty) treatise. It’s surprising how Beauvoir’s writing was met with outrage at the time when nowadays her ideas are pretty much accepted. Sure, there are bits that are rather dated (that one bit that implies severe period pain is at least somewhat psychosomatic, I’m looking at you), but the questions raised about what womanhood is and the fact that gender is less a biological thing and more a social thing still hits even today. 

Will I read the chunky version of this book? Probably not. Am I glad I read this version? Definitely. 

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