Contemporary Feminist Theories (ADV, ADV Political Theory)

Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex

I resonated with this image on many levels

Thoughts:

  • Existentialist Feminism resonates with me … the absurdity of the requirements society places on women to PROVE our existence, our worth, and our rights whilst living in an entirely constructed reality in which we have no say in entering. Yes. Fitting.
  • The 832 pages spare no detail, and that in and of itself harkens to the sheer enormity of the issues presented. You want to define the problem of ‘woman’ …here. It is not a simple problem, and there are no simple answers.
  • There are some modalities of analysis we might have progressed upon today such as the mere definitions of gender BUT remembering this book was written in 1949 is INSANE. The questions and meditations are so radical even today and the insights that she made that seemed to be dismissed during second-wave feminism I feel resonate with some new insights today.
  • I am thinking about the pull away from femininity during the period (and following) in which she writes; things like burning the ole bra, pushing aside love and child-rearing for the betterment of a career or respect among male peers. It feels like a jarring jump away from that suffocating confinement of the 50s. Then to third-wave feminism in the 90s, we really see a push for sexual equality and redefining gender roles, etc. However, Simone wrote in 1949, ‘American women are haunted by their own femininity, and that resonates with me today as we start to reflect back on what it means to be a woman, and how we do not have to choose love or career, submission or empowerment, babies or career. The embracement of being feminine and redefining the terms of success that have for EVER been entrenched in masculine stereotypes and attitudes feels more and more recognized.