Simone de Beauvoir, a formidable philosopher, made a significant contribution to the existentialist school of thought, as well as the feminist movement, with her ideas and work.
At the tender age of 21, she became the youngest person to pass the philosophy exams at France’s prestigious university with flying colors. However, her thirst for knowledge and her yearning to challenge the existing norms led her to question the conventional wisdom she had been taught.
Her rigorous examination of free will, desire, rights, responsibilities, and the value of personal experience, shaped by her constant intellectual debates with her partner, Jean-Paul Sartre, resulted in the development of existentialism. The school of thought, which negated the Judeo-Christian belief that humans are born with a preordained purpose, proposed a revolutionary alternative that humans are born free and without a divine plan. In her book “The Ethics of Ambiguity”, Simone de Beauvoir emphasized the importance of creating our own meaning in life and protecting the freedom of others to do the same.
However, despite her prolific writing and teaching, Simone de Beauvoir was often marginalized and dismissed by her male peers. She was ahead of her time, having rejected her Catholic upbringing and marital expectations to study at university and write memoirs, fiction, and philosophy. However, her lifestyle and her work, which explored women’s inner lives, open relationships, and bisexuality, were often disregarded by her male counterparts.
It was in this context that Simone de Beauvoir embarked on her most challenging work, “The Second Sex.” The book, published in 1949, proposed that gender is not predetermined, and like our life’s meaning, it is something that one becomes. Simone de Beauvoir defined Othering as the process of labeling women as inferior to men, who have historically defined and been defined as the ideal human subjects. As a result, women are systematically restricted from pursuing freedom, and Simone de Beauvoir’s book became an essential feminist treatise, providing a new language to discuss feminist theory.
However, over time, the ideas in “The Second Sex” have been expanded upon, with many modern thinkers exploring additional ways people are Othered, including racial and economic identities, as well as the broader spectrum of gender and sexual identities that we understand today. Additionally, Simone de Beauvoir’s legacy remains controversial, with accusations of sexual misconduct by two of her university students leading to her teaching license being revoked.
Simone de Beauvoir’s life and work continue to be a source of inspiration, contemplation, and criticism. Her ideas offer a philosophical language that can be reimagined, revisited, and rebelled against. In conclusion, Simone de Beauvoir’s contribution to existentialism and feminist theory has been invaluable, and her legacy continues to endure, despite its controversies.