Simone de Beauvoir: What is a Woman?

POLS 112B
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POLS 112B Discussion
1. Simone de Beauvoir writes that “we must face the question: what is a woman?” (p. 14). In Chapter 12 (not included in your reading), she famously states, “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” What is a woman, according to Beauvoir?
In her work, The Second Sex, De Beauvoir defines a woman as a human being and as "not a man” (Beauvori & Parshley, 1993, p.14). The author presented many definitions of a woman based on historical views and literature and analyzed them in the context of women in her time. Of course, women of our time are more empowered and more individualized compared to when the book was written, but de Beauvoir gives a different perspective on how women are viewed relative to men and how they are viewed without consideration of the “man”.
For a long time, even since Biblical times, women have been seen as derived from men. We know that this is not the case if we subscribe to evolutionary theories. However, the question of the meaning or the definition of a woman is heavily anchored on the societal norms we live in....