The Second Sex [abridged English translation by H. M. Parshley] (1949)

Well, presenting my review of The Second Sex:




Update: Who isn't barracking for Assange? I doubt the idea that the US or any other government, including the Swedish government which is apparently a covert member of NATO, with US intelligence sharing being kept from parliament, is behind the allegations in Sweden.

But it is a case of the ideals of protecting women from violence being well and truly exploited, as far as I can tell. A couple of girls trying it on. Does anybody have information to stand against the details given here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1336291/Wikileaks-Julian-Assanges-2-nigh...

This is from crikey.com.au:

Anna Ardin, one of the two complainants in the rape and sexual assault case against WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange, has left Sweden, and may have ceased actively co-operating with the Swedish prosecution service and her own lawyer, sources in Sweden told Crikey today.

The move comes amid a growing campaign by leading Western feminists to question the investigation, and renewed confusion as to whether Sweden has actually issued charges against Assange. Naomi Klein, Naomi Wolf, and the European group Women Against Rape, have all made statements questioning the nature and purpose of the prosecution.


Count me in with anybody who thinks that women should not be behaving like this. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.

By the way, Russia is suggesting Assange for Nobel Peace Prize. Why not? Obama got one...Assange has actually done something. Big somethings!



Update: We live in a society that thinks it can keep kicking men in the guts all the time. It's awful. In another thread here on goodreads the idea of 'Mom's job' has come up like this is the thing in the world that is taken for granted, long suffering mum. Fuck me dead, I mean really. What a crock. Have you all forgotten all the men who go through life uncomplainingly fixing and banging and hammering and being completely taken for granted that they are there to do shit for women and children who can't do it. And it isn't even respected. There will be deprecatory comments about the shed. There will be rolling eyes and sighs if he DOESN'T hop to it and fix whatever it is he is supposed to.

I've been travelling a lot lately and one of the things I've noticed is how utterly chivilrous men still are even though you'd think they'd had it well and truly stomped out of them as something sexist. Any time I've carrying my bag around a train station a guy will simply help me with it without asking, without making a fuss, without thinking he should be acknowledged in some way.

Feminism is sexist and I'm sick of it.
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In The Second Sex Simone de Beauvoir attempts to define the mystery that is a woman, and she does an incredible job of that. Beauvoir goes over the history of women in the ideas that they represent and how they are represented in society. We are shown in various forms the dichotomy that woman seems to represent. A woman can be either Eve or the Virgin Mary, and for that, she is alternately repulsed and glorified. We put her on a pedestal while enslaving her to our whims at the same time. She can be a representation of life itself or of death. Some writers remember that she is made of flesh and call it disgusting that she has the necessities that it entails. In that sense, it was uncomfortable reading. On the other hand, it was really fascinating and engrossing.

The book is slightly outdated in the sense that it was written in 1949 and translated into English in 1953. So it missed the Feminist Revolution of the 1970s. However, Beauvoir lived to the ripe time of 1986 and in that she might have had some opinions on it. Also, I have heard that the translation that I have obtained is not that good, but that did not detract from my enjoyment of the book. It is easy enough to understand her position and thesis without a completely faithful translation. Although it would be interesting to read it in the original French, it would probably take really long since I would have to know French. ( )

I've given up on this. The biology and development of culture that start the book as a base for the rest of it are just so outdated that I can't stand it.

I read this book back in 2012. I have used this book as a reference in essays for my English and Sociology classes when I was an undergraduate student in Education. It is insightful on many accounts since it tells about how things used to be - and some continue to be - for women. Back when I picked it up, I was quite into feminism and all for sticking it to the man etc... The more I learned about De Beauvoir, the less I was impressed by her. I am no fan of her unhealthy relationship with Sartre, too à-la-Osho for my taste. But that is besides the point. Back to this book, some passages were a bit like a rant, so I skimmed through and felt annoyed. This quote is one that I absolutely love:
'One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.'
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FINALLY, I finished it. This book seemed to take forever and I'm so glad I finished it. I was pretty much skim reading it by the end of it.
It was a really interesting book and that's why I gave it 4/5 stars. The writing was really good and I was really captivated in the subject. It seemed to ramble on but I think that is just because it had so much to cover. I'm not really one for non-fiction so that is why to took me so long to read and why it felt tedious.
Overall, really interesting book. ( )