The Second Sex
Quick Summary
The Second Sex is a seminal 1949 work by French writer and feminist Simone de Beauvoir. The book is a scholarly and passionate critique of societal views on women, challenging the concept of an "eternal feminine". Beauvoir, an existentialist philosopher, argued that women are not defined by biology or tradition but are shaped by societal constructs. She posited that emancipation is an ongoing process, a "truth to be made".12
The Second Sex provided a foundational text for the second wave of feminism in the 1960s and 1970s, which sought equality in all aspects of women's lives. The book's exploration of womanhood and societal definitions of women became a classic of feminist literature.31
Ask Britannica AI about this topic
Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.
philosophical feminismNature and scope of philosophical feminismand Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949), which showed how prevailing notions of femininity served male interests. Still, feminist philosophy from the 1970s was no less indebted to the practices and positions originally developed in women’s consciousness-raising groups (groups dedicated to raising awareness of women’s issues). The tenets…
Read Moreand Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949), which showed how prevailing notions of femininity served male interests. Still, feminist philosophy from the 1970s was no less indebted to the practices and positions originally developed in women’s consciousness-raising groups (groups dedicated to raising awareness of women’s issues). The tenets…
Read More
women’s rights movementPrologue to a social movement…in Le Deuxième Sexe (1949; The Second Sex), by the French writer and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. It became a worldwide best seller and raised feminist consciousness by stressing that liberation for women was liberation for men too.
Read More…in Le Deuxième Sexe (1949; The Second Sex), by the French writer and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. It became a worldwide best seller and raised feminist consciousness by stressing that liberation for women was liberation for men too.
Read More
continental philosophyde Beauvoir…she published her major work, The Second Sex, in which she masterfully exposed the way in which prevailing conceptions of femininity were defined by male interests. Employing the existential approach she had developed with Sartre, de Beauvoir further argued that neither biology nor tradition implies that there is anything fixed…
Read More…she published her major work, The Second Sex, in which she masterfully exposed the way in which prevailing conceptions of femininity were defined by male interests. Employing the existential approach she had developed with Sartre, de Beauvoir further argued that neither biology nor tradition implies that there is anything fixed…
Read More
French literatureBeauvoir…situation, Le Deuxième Sexe (1949; The Second Sex), a succès de scandale on its first appearance, was to be a more influential achievement. The publication in 1958 of her Mémoires d’une jeune fille rangée (Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter) marked the beginning of a sequence of autobiographical works that tracked…
Read More…situation, Le Deuxième Sexe (1949; The Second Sex), a succès de scandale on its first appearance, was to be a more influential achievement. The publication in 1958 of her Mémoires d’une jeune fille rangée (Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter) marked the beginning of a sequence of autobiographical works that tracked…
Read More