The Second Sex

"The Second Sex" by Sally Scholz. Philosophy Now, Issue 69.

This article was basically a review of The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir. The most interesting part of the article was this one...

Women fundamentally see themselves as "other" and thereby are complicit in their own oppression by society (this is all from de Beauvoir). The examples given in the book of women who play the role of "other" most clearly are three:
1) Prostitute - She is the absolute other, but also is the exploiter. She exploits men for money and recognition of her "otherness."
2) Narcissist - She is also unable to be a subject; unable to freely pursue projects and goals herself. She turns instead to her otherness, and becomes her own object. She spends her time improving the object: herself.
3) Mystic - The mystic loses herself in God. She seems to be possessed, rather than to feel oppressed in her freedom.

Essentially, for women to achieve freedom, they must break out of the "woman as other" paradigm. De Beauvoir ridiculously thinks this requires that they embrace socialism, but it does not. However, women do face the constant struggle to identify themselves as actors, instead of falling into the narcisisst, prostitute, or mystic roles in which they can view themselves only as they are viewed by others.