HISTORY OF MASCULINE DOMINATION

Beauvoir. 1949. The Second Sex. (pp. 71-90, 104, 109-11, 119-20, 126, 152-6)[3]

Beauvoir argues that “this world has always belonged to males.” But why is the case? In short, men oppress women because they’ve been given certain opportunities to do so. A series of advantages have allowed men to impose their sovereignty on women and to make gains at their expense. According to Beauvoir, we shouldn’t be all that surprised that one group would be motivated to dominate another. Instead, we should study the specific advantages that enable male supremacy. Beauvoir argues, for example, that men have long held a physiological advantage over women by being comparatively unburdened by human reproduction. This has provided men with more freedom to pursue their transcendence, while reproduction has chained women to relative immanence. Women, like nature, become something for men to dominate. Eventually, the advent of private property, marriage, and more helped solidify patriarchy. This instituted more advantages for men to realize their subjectivity. Indeed, male privileges are not static. They change as economic, cultural, and political circumstances do, but the correspondence is not perfect and male advantages do not evolve in a continuous manner. Beauvoir illustrates this by highlighting some narrow, but insightful, examples of European women’s autonomy during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Despite all of this complexity, Beauvoir works toward a straightforward conclusion: women’s present situation is shaped by a long and stubborn history of masculine domination.

FORMING AND SITUATING WOMAN

Beauvoir. 1949. The Second Sex. (pp. 283-95, 301-3, 311-2, 326-9, 334-5, 340-6, 380-2, 439-45, 470-2, 519-23, 569-70, 636-7)[4]

Beauvoir’s historical analysis leads her to a more direct examination of gender and modernity. Women remain othered, even with their increased labor and political participation, advancements in sexual liberation, and new opportunities for divorce. Men are still guided toward transcendence, while women are directed toward immanence. These situations are “formed” and are not determined by “biological, psychic, or economic destiny.” Hence one of Beauvoir’s most famous lines, “One is not born, but rather becomes, woman.” This becoming may be rooted in history, but it unfolds through biography. Beauvoir illustrates this by studying the formations of women (and men) in childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, marriage, and parenthood. Beauvoir shows that in each of these life stages females are pushed toward passivity and dependence. Males, on the other hand, are pushed toward a life of action and autonomy. The norms of marriage, for example, allow men to more freely navigate spaces beyond the home. Wives, in comparison, are imprisoned in the house and denied a meaningful existence. While there are interesting similarities between domestic space and the world beyond it (note the analysis of home décor as a faulty means to realize subjectivity), this is ultimately a man’s universe and that means it’s also ultimately a man’s house. Only in their very old age, as widows and without children, do modern women find serenity.

TOWARD LIBERATION

Beauvoir. 1949. The Second Sex. (pp. 645-9, 655, 661-4, 721-7, 753-66)[5]

The emancipation of women is both possible and necessary according to Beauvoir. However, it can only be accomplished collectively. And, there are many hurdles preventing women’s mobilization, including class divisions, a lack of feminine civil spaces, and the fact that women tend to dwell with their oppressors. These conditions are not, however, insurmountable and early twentieth century feminist movements offer partial evidence. For Beauvoir, the more important question of feminism concerns its goals. It’s not enough to demand equality on paper (e.g., voting rights). Women must seek economic independence from men and this means they must engage in productive activity beyond the home. In many ways that should be the primary goal, but there are a couple caveats. First, capitalism limits freedom for all workers. Second, economic liberation does not guarantee freedom in other spheres of life (e.g., family, education, and politics). Beauvoir therefore calls for a socialist world that dispels masculine power. She details some of the concrete features of such a society: women and men would do the same work and get the same pay, sexual partnerships would be based on free engagement, parenthood would be socially supported (but not socially mandated), and girls and boys would be raised with the same demands and opportunities. Ultimately, Beauvoir envisions a world where men and women recognize each other as subjects and this requires more than just a material transformation.

[1] Our readings for The Second Sex rarely include full chapters or sections. Don’t be alarmed when the assigned passages throw you into the middle of her analysis or when they combine the end of one chapter with the beginning of another.

[2] E-book pages: 23-38, 41, 68-71, 73-6, 79-80, 87-94, 724-6.

[3] E-book pages: 96-115, 117, 133, 139-40, 149-50, 157, 186-9.

[4] E-book pages: 330-43, 349-51, 359, 375-8, 383-4, 390, 395-400, 438-9, 502-8, 535-7, 587-91, 646-7, 721-2.

[5] E-book pages: 731-6, 743, 749-53, 813-20, 848-63.