The Second Sex, Research Paper Example

In The Second Sex, Simon de Beauvoir discusses the idea of a woman, what she is and what her place in the world is.  She accounts how, throughout history, many male thinkers have made statements about the essential nature of women that have robbed them of their place and purpose.  By doing so, a social order in which women are dominated by men has emerged and this is something that occurs in cultures throughout the world.

This has led to a schism between the social position of men and women, similar to those that can be seen different classes, races, or religions within society.  De Beauvoir discusses the parallel between classes such as women and proletariat.  These are subjugated ranks who were never able to form any sort of collective in order to have their rights ensured.  As with those other organizations, women lacked the ability to gather in any politically assertive form in order to achieve this.

De Beauvoir questions how and when this change occurred.  She speculates that, perhaps, it could have been that women came out on top and dominated men.  However, there must have been some circumstance that led to the current order.  Despite this, she continues to equate the position of the woman with that of the slave.  The master and the subservient.  In this sense, women are reared from childbirth with this sense of being second to men.  Even those of differing cultures and classes will have this same system built into it.