Simone de Beauvoir
You believe we aren't born anything, we become it, and that freedom means refusing the roles others hand us, for ourselves and for everyone.
“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.”
What you’d believe
- Woman as the 'Other'Man has been posited as the norm and the essential 'Subject', woman as the deviation, the 'Other' — defined always in relation to him.
- 'One is not born, but becomes, a woman'Femininity is not a fixed biological or metaphysical essence but something produced by upbringing, society, and situation.
- An ethics of freedom and ambiguityTo live authentically is to will one's own freedom and, in doing so, the freedom of others; human existence is irreducibly ambiguous.
