“Never forget that it only takes one political, economic or religious crisis for women’s rights to be put in jeopardy. Those rights are never to be taken for granted; you must remain vigilant throughout your life.”
Simone de Beauvoir
there are a lot of red names popping up in the notes so I’d like to add another quote from Simone de Beauvoir:
“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.”
“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. No biological, psychological, or economic destiny defines the figure that the human female acquires in society; it is civilization as a whole that develops this product”
That’s the full sentence of the quote you chose. She says the role human females (women) are expected to fulfill in society, i.e. femininity, does not arise from differences in psychology, biology, or intellect, but rather, femininity is a result of socialization, of a social construct.
So in very simple terms: the feminine role is not natural to human females. Women are taught to occupy a specific place in society through socialization, not as a natural result of biology.
Or do you think Simone De Beauvoir, an existentialist philosopher, was actually saying men can become women?
