Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex: A Detailed Analysis

 

Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex: A Detailed Analysis

Introduction

Published in 1949, Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (Le Deuxième Sexe) is widely regarded as a foundational text in feminist philosophy. Written in two volumes—Facts and Myths and Lived Experience—it combines existentialism, biology, psychoanalysis, literature, and history to explore what it means to be a woman in a patriarchal society.

Its most famous assertion, “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman,” challenges biological essentialism and asserts that femininity is not an innate quality but a social construct. With this bold statement, de Beauvoir laid the groundwork for modern feminist theory, particularly in relation to gender as performance, subjectivity, and oppression.

1. Existentialist Foundations: Woman as the “Other”

At the heart of The Second Sex is an existentialist framework, influenced by the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre. According to de Beauvoir, human beings are not defined by any fixed essence but by their actions and choices. However, women have been historically denied the freedom to define themselves.

She argues that woman has been consistently defined not as an autonomous being, but in relation to man—as his “Other.” She writes:

“He is the Subject, he is the Absolute—she is the Other.”

This concept of woman as the “Other” means that femininity is constructed in opposition to masculinity. Man is the norm, the neutral, the universal; woman is marked, deviant, and relative.

This idea is critical: women have been objectified and confined to roles imposed by men—wife, mother, muse, seductress—rather than being allowed to define their own identities.

2. Critique of Biological Determinism

In her critique of biological essentialism, de Beauvoir challenges the idea that biology determines women’s destiny. She examines the female body, including menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause, but emphasizes that these biological facts do not inherently define a woman's role in society.

She writes:

“Biology is not enough to define woman. The body is not a thing, it is a situation.”

By describing the body as a “situation,” de Beauvoir stresses that the meaning of female biology is shaped by cultural, social, and historical forces. Thus, biology does not justify the subordination of women, contrary to what many thinkers—from Aristotle to Freud—had claimed.

3. The Historical Construction of Femininity

De Beauvoir provides a sweeping historical analysis of how womanhood has been constructed across time. She analyzes myths, religious texts, literature, and social structures that have reinforced the idea of woman as passive, emotional, and dependent.

She critiques figures such as:

• St. Thomas Aquinas, who said that woman is a "misbegotten man".
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who believed women’s education should serve men.
• Sigmund Freud, whose theories reduced female experience to penis envy and inferiority.

De Beauvoir argues that throughout history, male-dominated cultures have perpetuated myths of femininity that reinforce submission and dependence.

4. Lived Experience: Childhood to Old Age

In Volume II, Lived Experience, de Beauvoir charts the stages of a woman’s life:

• Childhood: Girls are taught to be obedient, pretty, and passive. They learn early that their value lies in pleasing others, not asserting themselves.
• Adolescence: Puberty brings a crisis of identity. Girls are made to feel ashamed of their bodies and are socialized into romantic fantasies that prepare them for subservient roles.
• Sexual Initiation: Society creates a double standard—male sexuality is celebrated, while female sexuality is repressed or stigmatized.
• Marriage and Motherhood: These roles are glorified as a woman’s ultimate fulfillment, yet they often become traps of dependency, boredom, and self-erasure. De Beauvoir criticizes the glorification of motherhood, stating that it often limits a woman’s freedom.
• Old Age: Women are further devalued as they age. No longer sexually desirable, they are seen as useless, reinforcing the idea that women’s worth is tied to youth and beauty.

De Beauvoir’s strength here lies in her phenomenological approach—she documents the lived, bodily, and emotional experiences of women with psychological depth and philosophical rigor.

5. Liberation Through Transcendence

De Beauvoir insists that for women to be free, they must reject the roles imposed by society and claim their subjectivity. Drawing from existentialism, she argues that women must engage in acts of transcendence—projects and choices that affirm their freedom and agency.

She encourages women to:

• Work and be economically independent
• Refuse victimhood and passive dependence
• Participate in culture, art, politics, and intellectual life

De Beauvoir’s vision of liberation is not separatist or biologically deterministic. She does not idealize women as morally superior or spiritually purer. Instead, she asserts that freedom and equality lie in the mutual recognition of subjectivity between men and women.

“For woman herself to be able to assume her subjectivity, it is essential that by and through her own efforts she should be able to take her place in the world of men.”

6. Influence and Legacy

The Second Sex had a seismic impact on the feminist movement, especially during the second wave of feminism in the 1960s and 1970s. Its insights laid the groundwork for later feminist theories, such as:

• Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique
• Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity
• Luce Irigaray’s feminist psychoanalysis
• bell hooks’ intersectional critique of race, gender, and class

However, the book also faced criticism:

• Some argued that de Beauvoir's perspective was Eurocentric and elitist.
• Others pointed out her limited discussion of race and working-class women.
• Radical feminists critiqued her emphasis on integration with male society rather than building autonomous female spaces.

Yet despite these critiques, de Beauvoir remains a towering figure whose philosophical depth and literary power continue to resonate.

Conclusion

Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex is not merely a text of its time—it is a continuing challenge to systems of oppression that naturalize inequality. By revealing the mechanisms through which woman is made “the Other,” de Beauvoir equips readers with critical tools to question gender roles, resist essentialism, and pursue a more equal and authentic existence.

Her call to action is clear: liberation is not given, but achieved through struggle, awareness, and the courage to live as a free being. Even today, The Second Sex speaks not only to women, but to anyone committed to justice, freedom, and human dignity.