Simone de Beauvoir’s “The Second Sex”
Introduction: Woman as Other

Summary:
Simone de Beauvoir starts off this piece of writing by asking the important questions that are at the bottom of understanding women’s role in today’s world. What is a woman? This question is not easily defined; you can say that a woman is a woman because she has ovaries for example but does this really inhibit everything that it means to be a woman? Some women spend their time trying to roll with the men and be considered as an equal to them showing that women are “haunted by a sense of their femininity.” There is also a negative connotation when you refer to yourself as a woman, whereas when you refer to a man it is positive because man represents the entirety of human beings. Simone talks about how the woman is thought of in relation to and as a part of the male form, stemming first from Adam and Eve. Women are also thought of as the “Other” when compared with men who are seen as the “Absolute”, which pushes women outside the normal frame and into the category of the outsider or foreigner. The world is set up in favor of men; it is a man’s world, with everything from legal matters, to higher wages working in favor of men and women being so caught up in this system that they do little to change it. Religion, biology, theology, etc… was used to put up a case against women in showing their inferiority and instability as the lesser sex.

Reaction:
This section of reading was a great change from the Vogler reading because it was on a topic that I have done some studying about and it is a current issue. The idea that women themselves should feel some of the blame for being considered the lesser sex is one that I completely agree with. Although the bible and other early works set women up to be looked on as inferior to men it is women who have allowed this to happen over the years. There is much more unity to be found among the male sex and they consider themselves to be together in their work and in the world; whereas women refer to themselves as ‘women’ and there is little or no collectiveness in their efforts and way of life. Simone de Beauvoir says that women have “gained only what men have been willing to grant; they have taken nothing, they have only received,” and this quote shows perfectly the way I feel on this issue. In not demanding more from the world and from the male sex we have allowed ourselves to be put into the role as “Other” and we are only now realizing the unfairness of our situation. I also agree with de Beauvoir’s idea that in order to actually make any leeway or gain any understanding in this struggle all of the past speculations, ideas, and biases about what a woman is and start over entirely. In doing this it will be much easier to not keep resorting to the same arguments and evidence that people have been using for decades; it will allow for a blank slate which can then be painted with the observed truth about what being a woman actually means.

Reflection:
This reading brought me back to the class we had a few weeks ago in which Trip said something about all women being “at least a little crazy.” Not only did this comment make me quite irritated but it also showed me how even toady men are labeling and pushing women into the “Other” category without any sense of what it means to be a woman. Men take it for granted that they have everything in their favor from the moment they are born, to when they become director of a company, to their death. The world is set up in a fashion that caters to men’s needs, desires, mindset and ways of life; they don’t have to figure out ways to work around the system because it is unjustly set up to work against them or at least not for them in any way. The following quote does give me some hope, however, “In recent debates on the status of women the United Nations has persistently maintained that the equality of the sexes is now becoming a reality, and already some of us have never had to sense in our femininity an inconvenience or an obstacle.” So perhaps what is being done for the justice of women is having some effect on our society and the world we live in… but it is still not even close to being a resolved issue, much like racism.

Questions:

1) To the males of the class… Do you feel like the world is set up to cater towards men? Are women at a disadvantage from the time they are born?

2) What issues can be seen today that support the notion that women are the weaker, inferior sex?

3) To the females of the class… Have you ever felt that your sex ailed you in any way? For example, you didn’t get paid as much as a male, you didn’t get picked because you were female, etc…