“One is not born a woman, but becomes one.”
French existentialist and feminist philosopher, Simone de Beauvoir wrote The Second Sex, in
1949 to investigate popular definitions of femininity. She concluded that those definitions
had been used to suppress women, through the ages.
For De Beauvoir, the views of individuals are socially and culturally produced. Femininity
is not inherent – it is a construct that has been learned through socialisation – to
keep men dominant.
De Beauvoir argued that women have historically been treated as inferior – and secondary
– to men for three reasons. She explained that society teaches women – one, to fulfill
a male’s needs and therefore exist in relation to men – and two, to follow external cues
to seek validation of their worth. Her third point was that females have historically had
far fewer legal rights, and therefore less public influence.
De Beauvoir uses a comparison – saying that a girl is ‘treated like a live doll’.
What did she mean?
A doll is a powerful means of identification. Through it, the girl learns to identify with
the condition of being dressed up, made pretty and preened over – whilst not having any
agency of her own. She learns to objectify herself – just as men objectify women.
The doll is submissive – its role is to be dressed up, listen to its owner’s secrets,
comfort her when she is lonely and lie at home when she’s at school.
De Beauvoir argues that when the girl grows up, she will find herself in the same situation
as her doll. As a woman, it will be her role to attract a husband with her beauty, and
to maintain it to ensure he doesn’t stray, to quietly listen to his problems, and wait
at home for him when he’s at work.
An accessory – be it plastic, or flesh and blood.
De Beauvoir stated that even if a woman didn’t marry, she would still be held to male standards
– through external pressures such as the beauty, diet and fashion industries – which
are all complicit in perpetuating the objectification of women.
To achieve liberation, De Beauvoir believed, women must recognise many of these ‘social
norms’ as constructions. Only then will they have the freedom to escape their context
and determine their own destiny.
Written against a backdrop of intense conservatism, The Second Sex was published just five years
after French women had been granted the right to vote, at a time when few women worked.
De Beauvoir’s argument that ‘one is not born, but rather becomes a woman’ is still
valid today.
A more detailed examination of her ideas can be found in the MACAT analysis.