"The second Sex", by Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) was published in 1949, at a time when women were considered inferior to men. In her book, Beauvoir argues that women have historically been considered abnormal and deviant, and have been refused control over their own existence, and were not allowed to have a job and be independent. Thus, in her work, she presents a feminism existentialism (influenced in this by her friend Jean-Paul Sartre) which prescribes a moral revolution. In fact Beauvoir has been quite influenced by the existentialist idea that existence precedes essence, and thus, one is not born a woman but becomes a woman "One is not born a woman, one becomes a woman", "today's woman is a creation of nature; we must repeat that in the human collective nothing is natural, and that among other things, women are a product developed by civilization." What Beauvoir demonstrates is that the fundamental oppression women are suffering does not have natural roots, but is rather constructed by the society they live in ""it is the entire civilization that develops the intermediate product between the male and female described as a eunuch". Thus she claims that women are victims of men, and they should reject this system and free themselves from the domination of men "So far the potential of women were suffocated and lost to humanity, and it is high time that in its own interest and in that of all, that she finally gets her chance."
Her book is divided into four parts, all of which explain the different reasons why the woman is oppressed by the society she lives in, on the social, economical, political, and sexual level. She thus explains how some biological circumstances make the woman consider herself as inferior.
[...] Moreover, women are usually conditioned in their childhood not to play sports, and not to fight or challenge each other, as are boys. All these activities are forbidden to girls, who must act obediently, be quiet and stay with their mother. That is how girls learn to have a passive behavior towards the world. They are resigned to the fact that they cannot do everything they want, and that everything is not possible for them, contrary to boys who are strongly encouraged to express concepts such as violence, aggressiveness, power, domination, will, freedom and so on. [...]
[...] Beauvoir argues that being a mother is a really ungrateful task. On first sight motherhood is supposed to be the climax of a woman's life, the most beautiful moments of her life, but for Beauvoir it is absolutely not the case. Indeed, being a mother brings even more psychoses and frustrations as the mother thinks that her child is going to bring her some importance, and is going to give her a justification of her life. She thinks that she will finally get some acknowledgment and some value, but unfortunately she is completely wrong as the child is unable to give her what she wants and she thus becomes thus even more frustrated by her life "The child does not hold any value, as it cannot give any satisfaction, and facing him is still the sole woman." In some extreme cases she can transfer this frustration on her child, which explains some cases when a mother hits her child. [...]
[...] Otherwise they were expected to stay at home to take care of their children and their husband "The destiny that society traditionally offers the woman is marriage". Indeed, if a woman older than 20 was not married, it was a catastrophe for her and her family. It was considered that "marriage was her sole breadwinner and the only justification of her social existence". If a woman was not married and did not have any children, she did not have any social justification or any importance "she is socially incomplete ( . [...]
[...] Finally it appears that, in “The second sex”, Simone de Beauvoir makes a list of every obstacle that women encounter in their life, and how they are taught to be what men want them to be. Although she also claims that women are accomplice to this situation as they choose not to revolt, she admits that revolting is something really hard, something that not every girl is capable of. Her answer to solve this problem is in fact "If at a tender age the girl was brought up with the same requirements and the same honors, the same severity and the same license as her brothers, participating in studies, playing the same games, promised a future, and surrounded by women and men who would appear to her unequivocally as equals, the meaning of the castration complex and the Oedipus complex would be profoundly changed". [...]
[...] It was important to be valued by someone, and most especially by men and that is why they chose voluntarily to be what the men wanted, so as to be protected by them. "They forge their own chains which they do not want to load ( . ) she needs a light from above which reveals and confirms her value ( . ) she is not seen as revering the man unless on encounter she is ready to fall to her knees. [...]
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