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A review by ayla_derammelaere
De tweede sekse: complete editie by Simone de Beauvoir

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.0



I started this book with a lot of enthusiasm, I'd always heard a lot about her and was very intrigued about what and how so wrote. 
The book I have is a combination of the 2 books that combine into the complete book of 'the second sex'.

The style of writing is very easy to read ; she does use some specific words but she explains them in the start of the book and she does her best to write about a philosophical theme in nowadays language. 

In the first book, she writes about what it is that defines someone as a woman viewed from a specific point of view. She starts with biology, continues to psychoanalysis and ends with history. The information she gives is very wide and shows us there is not a single themed definition to explain what it is to be a woman.
I really enjoyed reading the historical part since it shows a way of thinking that I had never tried : she follows the position of a woman starting when humans lived as nomads and worshiped women as they are able to produce life, just as Mother Nature does. Men were in awe with women, thinking she was the divine living amongst them. 
That position changed completely once men found a way to work the earth : once men were able to grow food themselves and physical strength turned out to become of great importance, the women became a 'lesser' gender since we lacked the strength to do all that men could do. Ever since that moment, women became less than men ; they were important to produce children and to create bonds with other families. Women were traded by the father/(older) brother / uncle/ .. or sold.
In Ancient Greece and Italy, the wealthy women barely had more rights than slaves : they were in charge of the household but were not aloud to have an own opinion, had no right to spend money the way they wanted, were not aloud to vote, … Men didn't even believe women would be intelligent as well so education wasn't needed. All women needed to know, is how the make the life (inside the house) as pleasant as possible for men. This status remained for many and many centuries until after the French Revolution, women started to (re)gain some rights and were aloud to go and work outside of the house, earn money of their own (of course not the same amount as men) and surround themselves with artist and even try to write themselves.

In the second book, she continues about to explain the life of women in her time. Little girls are given a different education than boys : girls are thought to be cute, friendly, beautiful, .. they are waiting for approval by men, waiting for love to come and change their world, .. Girls are not aloud to play rough since that is something boys do and of course are not aloud to wear comfortable outfits but are put in tight dresses. Boys however, are aloud to have an opinion of their own, learn how to stand up for themselves, are thought to be independent and successful. The world is made by and for them.
The book continues to show us how the upbringing of girls already makes them start with a deficit : all girls were thought is to give, while boys were thought to take.

There are parts of the book I found very intriguing and interesting but a lot of times, for me, she writes a lot of prejudice ideas. The story becomes very black and white, where men become heroes and women are painted as lazy, unmotivated and sad reflections of humans.
Maybe I don't know enough of life in her time and I'm not able to place myself in her position but I think there was and is a lot more grey in the world than is read in the book.