1、Simone de Beauvoirs feminist thoughts【Abstract】Simone de Beauvoir （1908-1986） ， one of the French existentialistic philosophers in the twentieth century， is a milestone of modern feminism. Her world-renowned works-the Second Sex has taken a lead of feminism movement for decades. In this essay， the a
2、uthor will summarise Beauvoirs feminist thoughts in the Second Sex， and analyse it comprehensively. 1、Introduction Beauvoirs great works The Second Sex is regarded as the Bible of feminists. The famous Chinese sociologist Li Yinhe （李银河） had listed this book as one of the seven milestones in feminism
3、 history. The Situation of Female 1.1The meaning of situation At the beginning of the Second Sex， Beauvoir clearly told readers that existentialism was used in this book， which means she analysed females situation with Sartres existentialism. In accordance with Sartre， a human is responsible for one
4、self， even giving up is a choice. Thus， the essence of a human being is absolutely free. In the Second Sex， situation specifically refers to the limitations that make female unable to become the subject （or make female become the Other）. As Beauvoir wrote in this book， what peculiar signalises the s
5、ituation of woman is that， she ? a free and autonomous being like all human creatures ? nevertheless finds herself living in a world where men compel her to assume the status of the Other. 1.2Features of situation There are two features of situation； the first one is biological feature. Beauvoir tho
6、ught it is the biological fact that makes up for womens situation， and it is the fateful factor. As the body of female and male is different， and women suffer more from species all over their life， the effect of dissimilation is much greater on them. The other feature is historical feature. The fate
7、 of female is influenced in different historical periods. In nomadic times， men hunted， fishing， and defended their tribes from invaders， while women were responsible for bringing up children and some housework. 2、The Relationship between Male and Female In the Second Sex， the author defined women a
8、s “the Other” in their relationship with men. While male is the subject， the concept of the Other is the key to comprehend Beauvoirs theory. 2.1Female is the Absolute Other In accordance with Beauvoir， the Other represents the social status and features of female， which are the subordination， non-au
9、tonomy， inferiority and determined. However， female is not the unique reveal of the Other because it works only when the One which is its opposite does exist. A case in point is that for Chinese， all the people from other countries are foreigners， but Chinese will become foreigners when they go abro
10、ad. Thus， the Other is not absolute because either part would regard the other one as the Other， if it put itself as the subject. Beauvoir thought that the real and healthy gender relations should be interactive relations that either part is not only the subject （the one） but the object （the other）
11、as well. 2.2Female in marriage.As Beauvoir wrote， marriage is completely different for man and woman. For a man， being married is a life style， but not fated， he is fully qualified to live alone for the whole life because his social status is independent and his existence is valued by his contributi
12、on to the society. What he seeks in marriage is the expansion and proof of his existence rather than the pure right of existence. But as a woman， the situation is completely different. The choice of a girl has always been strictly restrained and she is told that man is the lord of the world， and her
13、 future is getting married. As a woman cannot directly influence the world or the future， marriage and the husband become the only way for her to demonstrate the validity of her existence. 3、The Way-out of female Although a few of this book discussed the liberation of female， Beauvoir had made activ
14、e research for it. Her ideas are basically in three aspects.First of all， change the economic status of female. The independent on economy is the prerequisite of womens liberation. In addition， a woman should shake off the affiliation to love. Besides economic independence， a woman has to shake off
15、her affiliation to love because traditionally a women believed that it is the most happiest. She wishes to proof her role through love， to proof her past， her character and her future. Thirdly， female writing is another suggest by Beauvoir. She encouraged women to write as it is a creative transcend
16、ing activity which is different from the repeated housework. Whats more， Beauvoir illustrated females advantages in writing： Writing needs observation of the world， and observing needs distance between the writer and the world. Since it is males world and female lives at the edge of the world， they are usually the spectators and have the advantage in writing. Reference： 1方钰， “他者”和“绝对他者”-西蒙娜?德?波伏瓦“他者”概念之辨析 ，武汉大学学报，2005 年 3月
