Abstract

Novelist and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir wrote her magnum opus, The Second Sex, in 1947. Her work marked a major shift in women’s consciousness at the time. It analyzed the situation of women from biological, historical, mythological, psychological, and sociological perspectives. Beauvoir shows how women’s position in the world is created by society, and that women can choose their destiny. It was arguably the first book to take a philosophical look at the oppression of woman and it laid the groundwork for the Second Wave of feminism. Although women’s lives in the west have changed dramatically since The Second Sex was published, its central argument and guiding philosophy remain relevant today.