Who was Simone de Beauvoir?

No one is born a woman, they become a woman.

The phrase was immortalized by the French writer, intellectual, philosopher, teacher, activist and, above all, a feminist Simone de Beauvoir. One of the greatest theorists of feminist movement modern, the French woman had a restless spirit and revolutionized standards dictated at the time, especially with regard to women.

One of her main works, "The Second Sex”, is considered the first feminine manifesto to propose reformulated bases for the relationship between men and women. His intense political activity was also notable in other areas, such as the persecution of Jews, French interventions in Asian and African countries, among others.

Learn more about this important historical figure through his biography, construction It is thoughts.

Introducing Simone de Beauvoir

Born in Paris in 1908, Simone Lucie-Ernestine-Marie-Bertrand de Beauvoir graduated in Philosophy from the Sorbonne University in 1929, presenting a thesis on Leibniz. She studied at the Institute Adeline Désir, a Catholic girls' school, between 1913 and 1925. She then studied mathematics at the Catholic Institute of Paris, literature and languages ​​at the Institute Saint-Marie.

While studying Philosophy, she met Jean Paul Sartre, with whom she had a relationship for almost fifty years. In the 1930s and 1940s, Simone taught at various schools, including the University of Marseille, where she remained until 1932. Later, she passed through Ruen and the Lycée Molière.

Had to flee the country with the nazi invasion in France, returning only at the end of the conflict. Alongside Sartre, she was an easy figure in philosophical meetings in which other important thinkers of the time also participated, such as Merleau-Ponty and Raymond Aron. The four even founded the magazine Les Temps Modernes or, Os Tempos Modernos, an important vehicle for the dissemination of their ideals.

A voracious writer, she owns famous works, such as the aforementioned The Second Sex (1949), as well as The Guest (1943), The Blood of Others (1945), The Mandarins (1954), Memoirs of a Well-Behaved Girl (1958), The Disillusioned Woman (1967), Old Age (1970), All Said and Done (1972) and The Farewell Ceremony (1981).

In them, she addressed issues of existentialist philosophy, as well as political analyzes and autobiographical books. Her performance in social movements was also remarkable. Accompanied by Sartre, Beauvoir traveled to countries such as Brazil, Cuba and China, as well as the Soviet Union, on tours undertaken between the 50s and 60s.

Simone died at the age of 78, on April 14, 1986, as a result of pneumonia. The writer is buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris, next to Jean Paul Sartre.

main works

Your first book, A Convidada, was published in 1943, bringing the existential dramas of a woman who, at the age of 30, finds herself dealing with the arrival of a student who threatens to undermine her marital structures. Six years later, she released O Segundo Sexo, one of her most expressive works.

The book had worldwide repercussions by marking an entire generation with revolutionary ideas about liberation from female oppression and the pursuit of women's independence. The Mandarins, released in 1954, depicts the aftermath of the War in France and won the French literary prize “Goncourt” in 1954.

In “Memoirs of a well-behaved girl”, Simone brings accounts of her own life related to the dogma of the Church and the standards of her family. In the “Farewell Ceremony”, written in 1981, Simone talks about Sartre's final moments, recounting the decline of a man, intellectually, powerful, both from the physical point of view and mental.

What was existentialism?

Sartrean existentialism has, as ideals, authenticity and freedom as essential to the human being, despite the harrowing consequences that this may bring. According to philosophy, the essence of a man is driven by his choices which, too, will affect his own world.

In this sense, human beings should not accept the values ​​imposed by traditions, including the Church, as they are responsible for their actions, values, choices and meanings.

Contribution to Feminism

Simone de Beauvoir was an intense activist in her militancy for feminism and gender equality. The philosopher analyzed the processes of social formation between men and women, identifying mechanisms that built hierarchy, always harming the latter. From then on, she began to develop arguments that led to new social configurations.

Her book, The Second Sex, is considered a classic of the movement and exposes the role of women in an oppressive society by the domination of men. The work rejects the traditionalism and religious morals within which she was educated. The existentialist influence on feminist ideals is noted for her thesis that:

“No one is born a woman: one becomes a woman. No biological, psychic, economic destiny defines the form that the human female assumes within society; it is civilization as a whole that elaborates that intermediate product between the male and the castrated that qualifies the female”.

In other words, sex and gender are different things. This is assigned the points determined by society. In this way, sex is linked to the physical-chemical constitution while gender originates from a social construction. The conclusion is that each society has been creating patterns of behavior for each one.

Two points where Beauvoir's feminist character can also be verified are in her aversion to marriage and motherhood. Simone lived with Sartre for most of her life. Even though the, also, philosopher, asked his mother to marry his father, this never materialized. She didn't believe in marriage as a way to establish love.

The closest thing to that was a stable union contract signed by the two. According to the writer, marriage is a bankrupt institution of modern society that forced women to dedicate their entire lives to a husband. Motherhood, in turn, would be a kind of slavery since, because of it, the woman would be bound by the obligation to marry, have children and take care of the house.

Simone defended women's autonomy so that each one had the freedom to build her own personality. As the author states, it is not up to man or the State to dictate how she should behave. Bringing her sayings to current women's struggles, the woman must fight the standardization of behavior or the absurdity of being blamed for an aggression suffered because of the clothes she wears.

No wonder, Simone is one of the most important authors of contemporary social movements, with emphasis on feminists and LGBTI. Both work with freedom of construction and recognition of identities. Freedom, this one, directly related to existentialism.

Simone de Beauvoir quotes

• “No one is born a woman, they become a woman”.
• “Let nothing define us. Let nothing subject us. May freedom be our very substance.”
• “Humanity is masculine and man defines woman not in himself but in relation to him; she is not considered an autonomous being.”
• “Man is defined as human and woman is defined as female. When she behaves like a human being she is accused of imitating the male.”
• “It is through work that women have been reducing the distance that separated them from men, only work can guarantee them concrete independence.”