Beauvoir and the Second Sex: Feminism, Race, and the Origins of ExistentialismIn a compelling chronicle of her search to understand Beauvoir's philosophy in The Second Sex, Margaret A. Simons offers a unique perspective on BeauvoirOs wide-ranging contribution to twentieth-century thought. She details the discovery of the origins of Beauvoir's existential philosophy in her handwritten diary from 1927; uncovers evidence of the sexist exclusion of Beauvoir from the philosophical canon; reveals evidence that the African-American writer Richard Wright provided Beauvoir with the theoretical model of oppression that she used in The Second Sex; shows the influence of The Second Sex in transforming Sartre's philosophy and in laying the theoretical foundations of radical feminism; and addresses feminist issues of racism, motherhood, and lesbian identity. Simons also draws on her experience as a WomenOs Liberation organizer as she witnessed how women used The Second Sex in defining the foundations of radical feminism. Bringing together her work as both activist and scholar, Simons offers a highly original contribution to the renaissance of Beauvoir scholarship. |
Contents
BEAUVOIR INTERVIEW 1979 | 1 |
RACISM AND FEMINISM A SCHISM IN THE SISTERHOOD 1979 | 23 |
BEAUVOIR AND SARTRE THE QUESTION OF INFLUENCE 1981 | 41 |
BEAUVOIR INTERVIEW 1982 | 55 |
THE SILENCING OF SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR GUESS WHATS MISSING FROM THE SECOND SEX 1983 | 61 |
MOTHERHOOD FEMINISM AND IDENTITY 1984 | 73 |
BEAUVOIR INTERVIEW 1985 | 93 |
SEXISM AND THE PHILOSOPHICAL CANON ON READING BEAUVOIRS THE SECOND SEX 1990 | 101 |
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Common terms and phrases
African American agrégation American analysis argues bad faith Bair Baruzi Beau Beauvoir describes Beauvoir writes Beauvoir's philosophy Beauvoir's relationship Bergson biological c'est challenge childhood concept consciousness context critical critique cultural cultural feminism defines deleted difference discussion entry essay Ethics of Ambiguity existence existentialism existentialist experience female femi feminine feminist movement feminist theory freedom French gender heterosexual human identity individual influence intellectual interest interview j'ai Jaggar journals later Leibniz lesbian lives male Marxist maternal Merleau-Ponty minority women moral mother motherhood Myrdal Nothingness novel Olga one's oppression Parshley passion perspective phenomenology philoso political problem question racism radical feminism radical feminist reference relationship with Sartre Richard Wright role Sartre's Sartrean Second Sex sense sexism sexual Simone de Beauvoir situation social socialist feminism Sorbonne struggle Sylvie Le Bon texts tion tout traditional translation Védrine voir voir's woman women's liberation wrote Zaza