Analysis Of Simone De Beauvoir 's The Girl

She states that `to pose woman is to pose then absolute Other' (821). `The other' is referred to women who are classified as being different to men even though both share a human body. Women are also not seen as `a subject, a fellow human being.'(821). This is caused by men who believe a myth of females through experiences of which Beauvoir states as feelings and thoughts, rather then the reality of women themselves. Men see women as what they think they see because of the way they feel about women. Men have opinions in ways of physical or knowledge of women. These opinions created are myths which men believe to be the true women. These men usually belong in the western patriarchal society. Men hold myths against women and "placed women beneath men and held them to be the property of men" (Guerrero). Being "placed beneath men" can show that women are treated unequally in a patriarchal society where they are not respected. This is the woman in a patriarch world.

In order to properly view a story from a feminist perspective, it is important that the reader fully understands what the feminist perspective entails. “There are many feminist perspectives, and each perspective uses different approaches to analyze and interpret texts. One is that gender is “socially constructed” and another is that power is distributed unequally on the basis of sex, race, and ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, ability, sexuality, and economic class status” (South University Online, 2011, para. 1). The story “Girl” is an outline of the things young girls

De Beauvoir’s “Woman as Other” lays out an elaborate argument on gender inequality; using the term “other” to establish woman’s alternate, lesser important role throughout her work, the author dissects and examines from its origin the female’s secondary position in society in contrast to man. Indeed, from the beginning of recorded history, the duality of man, by definition, positions woman at the opposing end of the spectrum in relation to her male counterpart. Even by today’s modern and accepting standards, the female suffers under the brand of being the sub-standard half of the duality equation; compared to her male opponent, women are paid lower wages, have fewer and limited expression of rights, achieve lower

“Objectification isn’t about seeing someone as a person in a box, but rather seeing the box as being the person” (Anonymous 2000). This objectification has been a particular problem for females over time, especially in the early ages. In Of S Theodora, A Virgin, Who is Called Christina (1096-8-1160), translated by Talbot, an anonymous author displays the objectification of women through the denial of autonomy, violability, and inertness, which were features that also impacted other women of this time period. Christina displayed these aspects when her mother forced her to marry and become limited to a small area, when she became confined to inhumane conditions as well as beaten, and when she needed to channel masculinity and reject female expectations in order to complete her actions.

Just as Pygmalion sculpts Galatea, man sculpts the idea of woman. The consequence of this is that man perpetuates the idea of womanhood, and women obey it. Beauvoir encourages women to fight against this idea of womanhood, arguing that “To pose women is to [deny]… that she is a subject, a fellow human being” (De Beauvoir). Most people unfortunately do not fight back against this idea of womanhood, and remain passive to it.

We live in a society where the similarities between female and males are seen at birth. It begins innocently with the toddlers; girls get pink while boys get blue. The gap between boys and girls develops with time and becomes increasingly apparent. There are still gender stereotypes today, but it is not as bad as it was in the past. Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” perfectly portrays gender stereotypes. It represents gender concepts as cultural constructs in the period it was written. These conceptions are comparable to current stereotypes about gender. The book gives us a list of commands from a mother to a daughter. Men in the society are dominant to the women, and the set of rules is a product of patriarchy whereby the mother and daughter appear as subordinates to the men in their lives. The article makes one aware of the prevailing masculine hierarchy that exists in a family, and how it creates firm gender roles for females in the society.

The patriarchal society has taken women away from their bodies as in it has created women as objects rather than subjects of desire. As we gain from Beauvoir, patriarchal society benefits the male perspective and viewpoint on the world. Subsequently, men are developed as subjects, whereas women discover how to see themselves as objects. Thus women learn to see their bodies and themselves through men’s eyes. This explains that women are alienated from their own bodies, and see

In her presentation, de Beauvoir argues that the individual is planned in an intriguing, solid manner, and the course in which ladies happen to be sorted out is uncommon in association with the route in which men happen to be coordinated. Despite the way that we are all people, and despite the way that we can't see unproblematically any ordinary trademark that bundles men from ladies, we can't deny the way that, situationally, there are two unmistakably discernable portrayals of people by, and large society eye with different refinements, and they have a relationship in which lady is as to man. As de Beauvoir contends, the position of men as the overwhelming one has dependably been associated with their monetary advantages. Be that as it may, their control additionally suited their ontological and moral desire. Beauvoir develop her examination of the relationship among man and woman, and regardless of the way that the man-woman relationship is also unequal and woman is in like manner not very impressive in this relationship, like the slave, there are some genuine differences between these two associations. These qualifications exhibit the enormous characteristics of the method for the relationship among man and woman and can be valuable all together in upgrading this relationship and changing it into an identical

Narcissists, ladies in adoration, and spiritualists all grasp their nature by suffocating selfhood in an outer protest—regardless of whether it be the mirror, a beau, or God. All through the book, de Beauvoir says such occurrences of females being complicit in their Otherness, especially with respect to marriage. The trouble of breaking free from "femininity"— of yielding security and solace for some cockeyed idea of "equality"— actuates numerous ladies to acknowledge the standard unfulfilling parts of spouse and mother. From the earliest starting point of her discourse, de Beauvoir distinguishes the monetary underpinnings of female subordination—and the financial underlying foundations of lady's freedom. Just in work would she be able to accomplish self-sufficiency. In the event that lady can bolster herself, she can likewise accomplish a type of freedom. In the finishing up parts of The Second Sex, de Beauvoir examines the strategic obstacles lady confronts in seeking after this

Beauvoir discusses woman’s evolution and how they are the Other. What was striking was Beauvoir saying a woman is waiting for Man. A woman shouldn’t wait for a man; she should be her own person. This is why a woman is downsized to the Other, because she is not being respected and needs to be at the feet of a man. By waiting for a man they are susceptible to defeatism. Women are oppressed in their development from girl to woman. Beauvoir explains the painful experience that women endure during menstruation. They go through torturous changes in order to be this “woman” that will only be treated like Other; an object. It is as though women need to go through the impossible in order to be Woman. It is also disturbing that a young man is allowed

Judith Butler’s essay, “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory” calls for a new way to view sex and gender. Butler argues that “gender identity is a performative accomplishment compelled by social sanction and taboo”. In this case, gender is not constituted by what one is, but rather what one does; the performative acts constitute gender. In other words, gender is not the starting place; it is an identity repeatedly constructed throughout time. Butler is trying to show us a feminist perspective of sex and gender. She attempts to follow Beauvoir’s path in a fight against society norms.

The existentialist philosophy has one governing ideal: we are not born anything, in fact all that we are is the pure results of our choices. These choices, are constructed from our own resources as well as those that are given to us when we came into existence by society. We do not only create our values, we create ourselves. Simone De Beauvoir, for instance, creates a limit to this existential idea of self-creation, qualifying absolute liberty - an idea that is recurring in Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and Nothingness. In opposition to this, de Beauvoir presents an ambiguous image of human liberty, in which women fight against the apparent inconveniences of the female figure. In The Second Sex, her most famous chef-d’oeuvre, de Beauvoir sketches an existential story of a woman’s life. A story revolving around the ways in which the female attitude towards her body and her corporal functions change throughout the years as well as the ways in which society influences her viewpoints. “One is not born, but becomes, a woman” is one of De Beauvoir’s most famous and revolutionary quotes. It focuses on the process in which both society and a woman’s personal identity defines her as a ‘woman’, in essence. In fact, De Beauvoir’s studies reveal that the woman body is presented in both a positive and a negative spectrum. The woman can be both oppressed, as well as free. She argues continuously on the ambiguity of women as their bodies can be both used as a vehicle for freedom and one for

Lastly, “femininity” refers to behavioural activities or interests that are assigned to the female sex, such as cleaning and cooking (Beauvoir, 617). Although many critics have read her text and become confused due to her stylistic choice to fuse her voice with the voices of famous men, it can be said that the text ultimately leads the reader to begin to question what society sees as a woman (Zerilli, 1-2). Despite Beauvoir’s The Second Sex appearing to recognize the oppression of women throughout the world without giving an actual solution, I will argue that Beauvoir’s evaluation of each “natural” aspect of female oppression allows readers to recognize that the only thing holding themselves back as a woman is society’s unnatural definition of their body, relation to men, and personal freedoms. Of course, when it comes to one's freedom, it is difficult to obtain when your body feels like a

While he waits “at a traffic light,” he “catches his eye [on] a tall girl in a black leather skirt” (Coetzee 194). She is mere stranger on the road, yet he is confident in being able to immediately hook up with her. The way he looks at women, reflects how they are displayed as animals and sexual bodies waiting for someone to catch them and because this occurs frequently, the idea of female bodies being dominated and constructed through male ideology becomes naturalized and accepted as a norm in society. It is evident that though all women do not become prostitutes because they enjoy the idea of it, there is this acceptance of the gender binary, where women choose to transform themselves into this sexualized character that seeks attention and is submissive to the man. Monique Wittig highlights the idea of categories in her text, “One is Not Born a Woman.” She agrees with Coetzee’s representation of the male and female roles and says that “for “woman” does not exist for [them]: it is only an imaginary formation” created by men (Wittig 15). Wittig explains that the category of “women” goes beyond the biological genes and outer appearance. It is something that is created not to make women feel good about themselves or to give them certain types of privileges, but it is a socially constructed idea that subject’s women into a certain type of character that benefits men. She goes on to say that “Once the class “men” disappears, “woman” as a class will disappear as well, for there are no slaves without masters” (Wittig 15). Consequently, the class of “women” is created in response to “men,” where if the category of “men” did not exist, then women would not be so restricted in the things that they are allowed to do and they would not have to live a life trying to satisfy men in order to

The following text comes from Simone de Beauvoir called “The Second Sex,” which discusses the ideas of the feminist