Lit Theory - de Beauvoir - The Second Sex

Simone de Beauvoir

1.     The Second Sex

a.     How does the myth of woman compare against real life.

                                               i.     The myth is static.

                                             ii.     It is conceptualized on a basis of experience, rather than fact, value, significance, knowledge, and empirical law.

                                            iii.     The myth goes unchallenged as it is considered a truth.

                                            iv.     In essence, the myth is a classification of presumed experiences of women, rather than the reality of individual experiences and human uniqueness.

b.     Women and men reaffirm each other’s existence.

                                               i.     When women are classified without reciprocity, then they become the slave in Hegel’s master and bondsman relationship.

c.     Women tend to be portrayed as either the good or the bad woman. 

                                               i.     In a woman who is bad, it is difficult to see the good.

                                             ii.     If the woman is classified as good, then men feel the absolute right to demand all the characteristics that go along with the classification.

d.     Significance is giving to the living experience, and myth is associated with an idea.

e.     Woman is more enslaved to the species than is the male.

f.      The myth of woman has been used by men to justify privileges and authorizes their abuse.

g.     The feminine “mystery” is nothing more than ignorance to explain things that the male does not understand, nor cares to inquire about.

                                               i.     Both sexes contain mystery and aspects the other sex cannot relate to.

                                             ii.     Only the female side contains mystery and it is usually evoked in a condescending manner.

h.     Women tend to get much from a relationship.  Time, money, and prestige.  Men get love.

i.      Doing nothing is a road-block to women transcending their situation.

                                               i.     The wonder what they could have become which sets them to asking about what they are.

                                             ii.     Women hide their true feelings.

j.      The myth of mystery belongs to the slave.

                                               i.     Once mystery is revealed, it is revealed to be a simple notion.

k.     Discarding the myth of woman has no negative impacts toward men.

l.      The times that have treasured women were when women were treated as fellow creatures.

m.   Men today recognize women as equal, but still require her to be inessential.

n.     It is difficult for women to accept at the same time their status as autonomous individuals and their womanly destiny.

Works Cited

Beauvoir, Simone de.  The Second Sex. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.  Ed. Vincent B. Leitch et al.  2^nd ed. New York: W.W.Norton & Co., 2010. 1261-1273. Print.