Scan barcode
A review by ninakeller
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
5.0
The feminist Bible, indeed. This book from 1949 is so comprehensive and enduring. I often found myself nodding in recognition and cherishing some of the language for phenomena I recognized yet had not named. Simon de Beauvoir was ahead of her time, a treasure. She must be rolling in her grave at the slow progress we have made as a society since, still swimming in the fuckery of patriarchy and white supremacy. Yet, so much progress has been made too, and revisiting this text is a battle cry for the important work to do.
The structure is as follows: The book begins with the larger question of what is woman and how the experience transcends culture and time, and how it has been defined by the cultural code within male dominated power structures. The myths and division of labor practices are explored to explain historical trends of women’s roles. Beauvoir then describes categories of lived reactions to the place of woman, according to life stages (age) and social categories (both participation within the social order or marginalization from the social order). The archetypes extracted are fascinating to read and recognize as enduring truths: The Child, The Girl, The Lesbian, The Married Woman, The Mother, The Social Woman, The Prostitute, The Mature/Old Woman, The Narcissist, the Woman in Love, The Mystic, The Independent Woman.
The structure is as follows: The book begins with the larger question of what is woman and how the experience transcends culture and time, and how it has been defined by the cultural code within male dominated power structures. The myths and division of labor practices are explored to explain historical trends of women’s roles. Beauvoir then describes categories of lived reactions to the place of woman, according to life stages (age) and social categories (both participation within the social order or marginalization from the social order). The archetypes extracted are fascinating to read and recognize as enduring truths: The Child, The Girl, The Lesbian, The Married Woman, The Mother, The Social Woman, The Prostitute, The Mature/Old Woman, The Narcissist, the Woman in Love, The Mystic, The Independent Woman.