The second sex
The Second Sex (French: Le Deuxième Sexe) is a 1949 book by the French existentialist Simone de Beauvoir. One of her best-known books, it deals with the treatment of women throughout history and is often regarded as a major work of feminist philosophy and the starting point of second-wave feminism. De Beauvoir researched and wrote the book in about 14 months when she was 38 years old.[1][2] She published it in two volumes and some chapters first appeared in Les Temps modernes.[3][4] The Vatican placed it on its List of Prohibited Books.[1]
Part One "Destiny" has three chapters. The first, "Biological Data", describes the relationship of ovum to sperm in all kinds of creatures (fish, insects, mammals). Then de Beauvoir proceeds to the human being, comparing the physiology of men and women, and saying that women are weaker than men (for example, in muscular strength, with fewer red blood cells, and a lesser respiratory capacity).[6] In chapter 2 "The Psychoanalytical Point of View", de Beauvoir first expounds the theories of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler. She then rejects them both, for example, finding that a study of eroticism in the context of perception goes beyond the capabilities of the psychoanalytic framework.[7] In chapter 3 "The Point of View of Historical Materialism", de Beauvoir relates The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State by Friedrich Engels but ultimately finds it lacking any basis or reasons for its claims to assign "the great historical defeat of the female sex" to the invention of bronze and the emergence of private property. She quotes Engels, "for now we know nothing about it" and rejects him because he "dodges" the
Part One "Destiny" has three chapters. The first, "Biological Data", describes the relationship of ovum to sperm in all kinds of creatures (fish, insects, mammals). Then de Beauvoir proceeds to the human being, comparing the physiology of men and women, and saying that women are weaker than men (for example, in muscular strength, with fewer red blood cells, and a lesser respiratory capacity).[6] In chapter 2 "The Psychoanalytical Point of View", de Beauvoir first expounds the theories of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler. She then rejects them both, for example, finding that a study of eroticism in the context of perception goes beyond the capabilities of the psychoanalytic framework.[7] In chapter 3 "The Point of View of Historical Materialism", de Beauvoir relates The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State by Friedrich Engels but ultimately finds it lacking any basis or reasons for its claims to assign "the great historical defeat of the female sex" to the invention of bronze and the emergence of private property. She quotes Engels, "for now we know nothing about it" and rejects him because he "dodges" the