Breaking the Constraints of the Other: A Critical Analysis on 'The Second Sex' by Simone De Beauvoir 

Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex argues that throughout history, women have been seen as “the Other”, scrutinizing women to a life of prejudice, and viewed as -as described by the title- the secondary sex, after men. The Second Sex is one the earliest attempts to contort society to a feminist perspective. The except begins with de Beauvoir disclosing that she was hesitant to write about women in general, explaining she assumes people are bothered and bored by writing’s supporting feminists ideologies. De Beauvoir questions whether or not we should even concern ourselves with writing about women, or women’s role. She goes as far as to ask if women are truly real; if women truly exist, what place do they have in this world? What is their role in occupying society? Are women merely seen as a burden? She evaluates the female experience, and humanity’s placement of women in the world, and how this compares in relation to men. Throughout this paper, I will be analyzing The Second Sex, and outline comparisons to the 21st century ideologies of feminism, as well as other theorists ideas of how women are being viewed. This will be done in hopes of reaching a consensus of whether or not The Second Sex applies to 21st century way of life today, and how this book possibly aided in shaping the world we live in today.

The Second Sex goes into detail regarding the conceptualization of women, and how history has become a reflection of certain attitudes and injustices towards women. Seen as the “Other”, women become exclusively oppositional to men, as Man occupies the role of the human, while women occupy the role of the object. This creates the notion that men are the absolute, and women are everything that man are not. As well, de Beauvoir argues to prove that women are not born feminine, but have been shaped to be so after thousands of years of external processes to do so. At each stage of life, girls and women are conditioned into accepting that they must depend on men, subjecting her to become an object for men to use. This idea is powerfully explained when De Beauvoir writes, “woman’s own successes are in contradiction with her femininity”. Perhaps you are thinking, why wouldn’t women want to make a change to the patriarchally lifestyle they have been forced to live within? De Beauvoir admits that although women may see a way to end patriarchy, they lack the means or will to get there, based on the fact that it has been instilled in her brain that she is the Other, and someone who is the Other most definitely cannot make a change as grand as this.

The Second Sex is most obviously not from this decade, or even century, and although it may seem as though there has been progress in supporting women’s rights, and equality since this book was written, it is factual to state that women today are still largely underrepresented, underpaid and do not hold the same rights or authority of a man. De Beauvoir’s explanation of why this is is quite raw, in saying, “women have never formed an autonomous and closed society; they are integrated into the group governed by males, where they occupy a subordinate position.” How can there be such thing a “subordinate group”? Certainly, there are positions and acts that women can fulfill, and men cannot, as well as vice versa. Despite this, the roles women take on that men are unable to are still not seen as powerful ones, nor are they viewed as ones that would create a dominate or authoritative position for women. This, as interpreted in The Second Sex, is how the creation of two classes of individuals are was created. There is Man, who will never in their life have to present themselves as a male in any sense, as it is assumed that one is a male, and there is Women, who adversely, when wanting to define themselves, must start with starting their gender, as to not be confused with a man. This is because it is always assumed that one is a man, unless stated otherwise. Being a man, according to De Beauvoir, is not peculiar, while being a women is. In essence, being a woman can be used as an argument as to why she may be right or wrong, or why she acts a certain way. Contrarily, being a man cannot be used as an argument as to why a mean thinks or acts a certain way, because being a man is not peculiar, and is the norm, while being a women is being the Other.

The Freudian Theory of Psychosocial Development some what proves De Beauvoir’s arguments regarding women as the Other, as well as makes further arguments concerning identity, and desire. The first key assumption in the process of psychosocial development is “the recognition of sexual difference, which hinges on the presence of absence of a penis”. According to Freud, recognizing someones biological gender depends solely on the absence or presence of a mans figure, regarding women as the Other, the one without a penis. As well. Freud’s theory covers the idea of desire, demonstrating that it is rooted within men, and taught further from a young age, that males identity with other males, but must desire females. On the other hand, women must learn to be desirable to men, and identity with other women. There is the idea deeply rooted within both males and females that women must be desired, further proving De Beauvoir’s theory that women are seen as the Other, because men’s roles are authoritarian, by getting to choose the women he pleases. These roles and positions that men and women play in everyday life are reinforced through ones culture, education, and specifically through popular culture.

In recent decades, feminists theories have become more prominent, many of them a paradox to De Beauvoir’s arguments within The Second Sex. Although, similarly to The Second Sex, feminist theories argue that genders are socially constructed. Many theories state that it is important to challenge “natural patterns of identification and desire”. As mentioned earlier, these patterns of identification and desire include the way in which each gender must act. If these were to be challenged, it would mean that identity, and the people in which you desire, are chosen by the individual. Perhaps this can be compared to the LGBTQ+ community. A community of people who choose to challenge the idea that men must desire women, and vice versa. Within this community, men are able to desire other men, and women are able to desire other women, a concept in which contradicts De Beauvoir, and proves that perhaps women are slowly shifting from the Other.

The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir, is a legitimate and rare example of a piece of work written by a women, in which she proves herself to be more than the Other. Although De Beauvoir obviously believed heavily on her idea of the Other, I believe this book became a turning point for many women who decided they did not want to be the Other anymore. Today, protesters to the idea of the Other, such as the #Metoo movement, and the LGBTQ+ community deny De Beauvoir’s ideology of the Other, and stand together to break socially constructed gender norms, and create a world in which women are equal, strong, and powerful, and where men can no longer be authoritarian over women.