oysterkatcher 's review for:

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

4.0

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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!