second sex
SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR
(1908-1986)
THE SECOND SEX
(Le Deuxieme Sexe)
First published in 1949
English translation in 1953 by H.M. Parshley (New York: Knopf)
Vintage Books paperback edition 1989
Introduction and Conclusion
C.S. 204
AMERICAN UNIERSITY OF BEIRUT
1
THE SECOND SEX
(Introduction and Conclusion)
INTRODUCTION
BOOK ONE:
Part I
Part II
Part III
FACTS AND MYTHS
DESTINY
HISTORY
MYTHS
BOOK TWO:
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VI
WOMAN'S LIFE TODAY
THE FORMATIVE YEARS
SITUATION
JUSTIFICATIONS
TOWARD LIBERATION
CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
FOR A LONG TIME I have hesitated to write a book on woman. The subject is irritating especially to women; and it is not new. Enough ink has been spilled in the quarreling over feminism, now practically over, and perhaps we should say no more about it. It is still talked about, however, for the voluminous nonsense uttered during the last century seems to have done little to illuminate the problem. After all, is there a problem? And if so, what is it? Are there women, really? Most assuredly the theory of the eternal feminine still has its adherents who will whisper in your ear: "Even in Russia women still are women"; and other erudite persons sometimes the very same ? say with a sigh: "Woman is los ing her way, woman is lost." One wonders if women still exist, if they will always exist, whether or not it is desirable that they should, what place they occupy in this world, what their place should be. "What has become of women?" was asked recently in an ephemeral magazine.1
But first we must ask: what is a woman? (…)
(…)
If her functioning as a female is not enough to define woman, if we decline also to explain her through "the eternal feminine", and if nevertheless we admit, provisionally, that women do exist, then we must face the question: what is a woman?
1
Franchise, dead today.
2
To state the question is, to me, to suggest, at once, a preliminary
(1908-1986)
THE SECOND SEX
(Le Deuxieme Sexe)
First published in 1949
English translation in 1953 by H.M. Parshley (New York: Knopf)
Vintage Books paperback edition 1989
Introduction and Conclusion
C.S. 204
AMERICAN UNIERSITY OF BEIRUT
1
THE SECOND SEX
(Introduction and Conclusion)
INTRODUCTION
BOOK ONE:
Part I
Part II
Part III
FACTS AND MYTHS
DESTINY
HISTORY
MYTHS
BOOK TWO:
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VI
WOMAN'S LIFE TODAY
THE FORMATIVE YEARS
SITUATION
JUSTIFICATIONS
TOWARD LIBERATION
CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
FOR A LONG TIME I have hesitated to write a book on woman. The subject is irritating especially to women; and it is not new. Enough ink has been spilled in the quarreling over feminism, now practically over, and perhaps we should say no more about it. It is still talked about, however, for the voluminous nonsense uttered during the last century seems to have done little to illuminate the problem. After all, is there a problem? And if so, what is it? Are there women, really? Most assuredly the theory of the eternal feminine still has its adherents who will whisper in your ear: "Even in Russia women still are women"; and other erudite persons sometimes the very same ? say with a sigh: "Woman is los ing her way, woman is lost." One wonders if women still exist, if they will always exist, whether or not it is desirable that they should, what place they occupy in this world, what their place should be. "What has become of women?" was asked recently in an ephemeral magazine.1
But first we must ask: what is a woman? (…)
(…)
If her functioning as a female is not enough to define woman, if we decline also to explain her through "the eternal feminine", and if nevertheless we admit, provisionally, that women do exist, then we must face the question: what is a woman?
1
Franchise, dead today.
2
To state the question is, to me, to suggest, at once, a preliminary