Le Deuxième Sexe

Simone de Beauvoir's two-volume study asks how women became the second sex. Starting with biology, history and myth, she argues that woman has been defined as the Other against man's position as the standard. Her famous claim is that one is not born but rather becomes a woman. The second volume examines lived experience: childhood, adolescence, sexual initiation, marriage, motherhood, old age, and the roles of the prostitute and the narcissist, all through a philosophical, existentialist lens.

Readers interested in feminism, philosophy or the history of ideas will find a foundation text here. It is dense and long, but it changes how you see everyday assumptions about gender, and it explains why so many later writers on women's rights began with this book.

Deep, contemplative and open-ended; a demanding read.

Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?