The Second SexWhat is it to be the "Other"?What does Simone de Beauvoir as in the Second Sex? I think it revolves around: What peculiarly signalizes the situation of woman is that she - a free and autonomous being like all human creatures - nevertheless finds herself living in a world where men compel her to assume the status of the Other.
This comes from a long line of factors, that independently do not explain it but are part and parcel of the subjection of women. Darwin, Freud and Marx have formulated ideas about how the world works and to some extent how it should work. The "the division of the species into two sexes is not always clear-cut," and several species are able to perform "asexual propagation." The idea of "opposite sexes," created over the centuries by Western civilization, is not the result of biology, but rather a social construct with deep social roots. I espouse the existentialist view, that we create society and to assume any of it as given is "bad faith" in a gender perspective, one is not born, but rather becomes a woman. I said it before and I will state it again, "Biology is not enough to give an answer to the question that is before us: why is woman the Other? Our task is to discover how the nature of woman has been affected throughout the course of history; we are concerned to find out what humanity has made of the human female." Moreover, ".....the body of woman is one of the essential elements in her situation in the world. But that body is not enough to define her as a woman." which actually encapsulates the thesis of the Other, biology is not enough but does give us certain insights as to why woman has evolved into her current state. As the definition of woman is constructed (albeit wrongly) along psychological and materialistic lines as well, the role and definition of woman can be changed but in the meantime, women have to deal with even more limitations of her body, "As with her grasp on the world, it is again impossible to measure in the abstract the burden imposed on woman by her reproductive function." and "The bondage of woman to the species is more or less rigorous according to the number of births demanded by society and the degree of hygienic care provided for pregnancy and childbirth." Obviously it is longer and more complex than this - but if this has at least started you on the road and interested in the subject, I challenge you to pick up her book and find out where she comes from and what she means - we will be all richer in the end! --Reviewer: Miguel B. Llora from Bay Point, California United States
