The Second Sex,written in 1949 is easily the cornerstone of feminist literature. Though comparisons with The Female Eunuchare obvious, both are vastly different in tone, treatment of the subject matter and structure. Personally, I prefer De Beauvoir’s witty remarks laced with pungent sarcasm than Greer’s no nonsense approach. I’ve always been a fan of indulgence and Beauvoir’s approach makes it much easier to read the book like a story, covering past and present, almost like a narrative. It is also interesting to note what feminism has come to mean today. The label ‘feminism’ has become synonymous to the alias of Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter – He Who Must Not Be Named or You Know Who. Use the term ‘feminism’ publicly at your own peril. In fact, it has almost become an insult– call someone a feminist and they suddenly go completely defensive or aggressive, depending on their nature. Approach The Second Sexwith an open mind and you’ll begin to understand the appeal of feminism, what it was meant to be and what it has become today. It will challenge you, make you laugh, draw appreciation and even applause at some instances but most certainly, transform your opinion of feminism and feminist literature forever…
Context:De Beauvoir was born in a bourgeois family (rough translation – middle class) and her friend Zaza’s death haunted her for the rest of her life. De Beauvoir always believed that Zaza’s struggle to resist an arranged marriage had been the real cause of her death. Thus, it can be speculated that her critique of rigid bourgeois constraints on women, expressed in The Second Sexwere rooted in her anger over Zaza’s death. Revolutionary and incendiary, The Second Sex is one of the earliest attempts to confront human history from a feminist perspective. It won De Beauvoir many admirers and just as many detractors. De Beauvoir’s primary thesis is that men fundamentally oppress women by characterizing them, on every level, as the Other, defined exclusively in opposition to men. Man occupies the role of the self, or subject; woman is the object, the other. The Otheris an essential part of continental philosophy. According to the concept, the world is divided into cultural binaries, or dichotomies. For example – boy/girl, man/woman, tall/short. One of these pairs always remains dominant in the cultural discourse whilst its partner takes the relegated position of the Other. For example in tall/short, short is the Otherbecause it has connotations of midget, dwarf etc and they stand out because of their height. This unconscious selective relegation is what the woman is subjected to. This distinction is the basis of all de Beauvoir’s later arguments. De Beauvoir states that while it is natural for humans to understand themselves in opposition to others, this process is flawed when applied to the genders. In defining woman exclusively as Other, man is effectively denying her humanity.
Introduction: This is perhaps the most self introspective part of the book. From the very first first lines, De Beauvoir draws the reader in by playfully mocking feminism to showcase the universal nature of the book –
“For a long time I 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 quarelling over feminism”.
Through this mockery De Beauvoir proceeds to answer the eternal question – what is a woman?
Book I – FACTS AND MYTHS: The Second Sex chronicles de Beauvoir’s effort to locate the source of these profoundly imbalanced gender roles. In Book I, entitled “Facts and Myths,” she asks how “female humans” (she refrains from using the word “woman”, a very clever motif, because what constitutes a ‘woman’ is yet to be identified) come to occupy a subordinate position in society. To answer this question and to better understand her own identity - De Beauvoir first turns to biology, psychoanalysis, and historical materialism. She then moves to history to trace the emergence of male superiority in society, from nomadic hunter-gatherers through the French Revolution and contemporary times. Here she finds ample examples of female subordination, but again, no persuasive justification for them. History, she argues, is not an immutable “fact,” but a reflection of certain attitudes, preconceptions, and injustices. Throughout history, maternity has been both worshipped and reviled: the mother both brings life and heralds death. These mysterious operations get projected onto the woman, who is transformed into a symbol of “life” and in the process is robbed of all individuality. To illustrate the prevalence of these myths, de Beauvoir studies the portrayal of women by five modern writers. The one which stands out is most definitely the section of “D.H. Lawrence or Phallic Pride”.
Book II – WOMAN’S LIFE TODAY: De Beauvoir insists on the impossibility of comparing the “character” of men and women without considering the immense differences in their situation, and in Book II, entitled “Woman’s Life Today,” she turns to the concrete realities of this situation. She traces female development through its formative stages: childhood, youth, and sexual initiation.Her goal is to prove that women are not born “feminine” but shaped by a thousand external processes, thus her famous line –
“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman”.
In the final chapter of this section, “Woman’s Situation and Character,” De Beauvoir reiterates the controversial claim that woman’s situation is not a result of her character. Rather, her character is a result of her situation. Her mediocrity, complacency, lack of accomplishment, laziness, passivity - all these qualities are the consequences of her subordination, not the cause. The difficulty of breaking free from “femininity”; of sacrificing security and comfort for some ill-conceived notion of “equality” induces many women to accept the usual unfulfilling roles of wife and mother. From the very beginning of her discussion, De Beauvoir identifies the economic underpinnings of female subordination and the economic roots of woman’s liberation. Only in work can she achieve autonomy. If woman can support herself, she can also achieve a form of liberation.
Themes: Immanence vs. Transcendence - De Beauvoir uses “immanence” to describe the historic domain assigned to women: a closed-off realm where women are interior, passive, static, and immersed in themselves. “Transcendence” designates the opposing male lot: active, creative, productive, powerful, extending outward into the external universe. Every human life should permit the interplay of these two forces, immanence and transcendence, but throughout history, man has denied woman the transcendent role.
Nature vs. Nurture - De Beauvoir believes that woman’s inferiority in society is a result not of natural differences but of differences in the upbringing of man and woman. Male domination is not inherent or fated but conditioned at every stage of development. De Beauvoir says that “Man learns his power.” By the same token, woman is not born passive, mediocre, or immanent. Rather, she is socialized to believe that proper women must embody these characteristics and, subtly and not subtly, she is conditioned to believe that denying her true self is the only way to achieve happiness and gain acceptance.
Production vs. Reproduction -Women are both treasured and reviled for their reproductive function, and De Beauvoir explains that one of the central problems of the female situation is the difficulty of reconciling woman’s reproductive capacity with her productive capacity. Her productive capacity includes her ability to participate in labor or otherwise contribute to the economy of her society. On closer inspection, De Beauvoir finds that reproduction and production are not mutually exclusive. Throughout history, woman has been enslaved to her reproductive function. For woman to achieve more than liberation and enter the workplace as man’s equal, the nuclear family must be reconfigured so that she is able to leave the home.
The Eternal Feminine -De Beauvoir goes into great detail to debunk what she refers to as “the eternal feminine,” or that “vague and basic essence, femininity.” This myth takes many forms - the sanctity of the mother, the purity of the virgin, the fecundity of the earth and of the womb but in all cases serves to deny women’s individuality and trap them inside unrealizable ideals.
The Other -De Beauvoir uses the term Other throughout The Second Sex to diagnose the female’s secondary position in society as well as within her own patterns of thought. One of her chief goals in undertaking the project is to answer the question of why woman is the Other. For every subject, there must be an object. This reciprocal relation is a primary tenet of existentialist thought, and it points to the fundamental problem with the male monopoly on subjectivity. Because it is fundamentally unnatural to live in the role of object, woman hesitates between the historical role offered to her and an assertion of her liberty.
The Praying Mantis -Women who try to achieve transcendence, reject the passivity imposed on them, and attain some mastery over their lives are looked on unkindly by patriarchal society. Among the many negative stereotypes heaped on this sort of woman is that of the praying mantis.This unflattering symbol refers to the female insect’s habit of devouring the male immediately following intercourse. The shrewish, nagging wife, the “ogress” who demands too much out of life, the tyrannical lover who withholds her body - any woman who threatens male supremacy is accused of this. Many women fear being regarded as too aggressive or powerful, and thus being called a praying mantis.
The Second Sexis an ocean and almost impossible to do justice to in a meagre review. Just go ahead and read it. It will test your knowledge of literature, challenge your attitudes, refine you. It is by far the complete book on woman.
