The Second Sex
by Simone de Beauvoir
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Book Summary Information
Author: Simone de BeauvoirTranslator: H. M. Parshley
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1989-12-17
ISBN: 0679724516
Number of pages: 800
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of The Second Sex
Book Review: "Woman?"
Summary: 5 Stars
So commences Simone de Beauvoir in her monumental work concerning one of the most essential issues of human existence. She uses the singular form (but in a collective sense) and follows it with a question mark. How do women become "women", with defined places in society, and particularly vis-à-vis the opposite sex. She says that women become the "other," different from the "normal standard." De Beauvoir's erudition is astonishing; her book is grand "tour de force," examining virtually all aspects of human knowledge. The book is the classic feminist manifesto, written more than 60 years ago, and it still eclipses all subsequent works. It is dense; rich in insights, and lengthy, and clearly not for the "fun read" crowd. No review can do it justice, certainly not mine. One can only hope to throw out enough tidbits that the reader says that the effort in tackling this book will be well-compensated. De Beauvoir accomplished this remarkable feat of analysis and hypotheses just as she was turning 40. As only one example of her erudition in literature, in a couple of pages she moves from Alain Fournier's depiction of Yvonne de Galais in "Le Grand Meaulnes" to Henry Miller's concept of god in a [...] to Dostoyevsky's Raskolnikov sacrifices at Sonia's feet.
"The Second Sex" is divided into two books, one entitled "Facts and Myths," the other "Woman's Life Today." Of course parts of the book are dated; consider that one chapter is entitled "The Point of View of Historical Materialism." Yes, Communism has wound up in the proverbial dust-bin of history, as is another chapter title, the male-dominated point of view of psychoanalysis. She examined the concept of woman in the works of five authors: Montherlant, D. H. Lawrence, Claudel, Breton and Stendhal. It was personally reassuring that she liked Stendhal the best, saying: "...from this carnival atmosphere where Woman is disguised variously as fury, nymph, morning star, siren, I find it a relief to come upon a man who lives among women of flesh and blood." Elsewhere, making a comparison with the so-called "Negro Problem" and "Jewish Problem," which she says is neither, she says that: "the woman problem has always been a man's problem." Other uncomfortable insights: "that is why superiority has been accorded in humanity not to the sex that brings forth but that which kills."
In the second book De Beauvoir speaks of the acculturation process whereby girls are taught to be "coquettish and seductive," and are ambivalent in arousing male interest. She says that "the feminine body is peculiarly psychosomatic," and that "woman's sexuality is conditioned by the total situation." The entire chapter on a Married Woman makes for more uncomfortable reading, including the insight that: "Many married women find amusement in confiding to one another the `tricks' they use in simulating a pleasure that they deny feeling in reality;" "This is indeed a melancholy science- to dissimulate, to use trickery, to hate and fear in silence, to play on the vanity and the weaknesses of a man... to `manage' him."
In the chapter on the Mother, her discussion on abortion could tumble out of today's newspapers. She says that a mother who is harsh with her child is seeking vengeance on the man. In terms of her Social Life, she repeats the familiar aphorism that "woman dresses to inspire jealousy in other women,..." and that it is only in Old Age that a woman gains her independence, and can determine who she actually is. Another acute sentiment: "Man enjoys the great advantage of having a God endorse the codes he writes..." Her conclusion certainly starts depressingly enough: "No, woman is not our brother; through indolence and depravity we have made of her a being apart, unknown, having no weapon other than her sex... but moreover, an unfair weapon of the eternal little slave's mistrust."
I found some significant information in some of the other posted reviews: There is the issue of a faulty translation, which even excludes portions of the original text, and this matter has never been resolved. There is also the very real matter of her personal life, failing to "walk the talk," and assuming a subordinate position to Jean-Paul Sartre, including the rumored procurement of younger women. Alas! Subordinate no longer, though, they lay side by side in Montparnasse cemetery, for those with pilgrimage inclinations.
Overall, a superlative book that can be read and enjoyed numerous times for the central insights De Beauvoir renders.
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