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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>'''Simone de Beauvoir''' was a French writer, philosopher, and feminist. Her book The Second Sex is a founding text of modern feminism, and she was a central figure of existentialism and of the intellectual life of post-war France.<br />
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== Early Life and Education ==<br />
Beauvoir was born in 1908 in Paris to a bourgeois family. She was educated at a convent school and at the Sorbonne.<br />
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She studied philosophy and took the agrégation examination, in which she came second to Jean-Paul Sartre. She taught in provincial lycées.<br />
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She formed a lifelong relationship with Sartre, and the couple became the centre of a circle of intellectuals. She had other relationships and wrote about them.<br />
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== The Second Sex ==<br />
The Second Sex, published in 1949, is a comprehensive analysis of the situation of women. The book argues that women have been defined in relation to men and that they have been denied the status of subjects.<br />
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The famous sentence that one is not born but rather becomes a woman expresses the distinction between biological sex and social gender. The work examines the myths of femininity and the experience of women in work, in marriage, and in motherhood.<br />
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The book was controversial and was placed on the Index of Prohibited Books. It influenced the development of the women's movement and of gender studies.<br />
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== The Memoirs and the Novels ==<br />
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, The Prime of Life, Force of Circumstance, and All Said and Done form a multi-volume autobiography. The work is a record of her life and of her times.<br />
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She Wrote The Mandarins, a novel about the intellectual circles of post-war Paris, which won the Prix Goncourt. The Blood of Others and The Woman Destroyed treat the themes of freedom and of the relations between the sexes.<br />
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Her fiction explores the existentialist themes of choice and of responsibility. The novels are concerned with the situation of women and with the ethics of the intellectual.<br />
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== Philosophical Work ==<br />
Beauvoir wrote on ethics and on the philosophy of existentialism. The Ethics of Ambiguity develops the themes of freedom and of the situation.<br />
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She wrote on old age and on the condition of the elderly. The Coming of Age is a study of the treatment of the aged in different societies.<br />
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The philosophical work is less well known than The Second Sex but is an important part of her output. She contributed to the development of existentialist thought.<br />
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== Later Life and Death ==<br />
Beauvoir was active in the feminist movement and in political causes. She campaigned for the legalisation of abortion in France.<br />
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She wrote about the death of Sartre in Adieux: A Farewell to Sartre, which caused controversy. She died in 1986 in Paris.<br />
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She was buried beside Sartre in the Montparnasse Cemetery.<br />
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== Legacy ==<br />
Beauvoir is regarded as the founder of modern feminist theory. The Second Sex is one of the most important books of the twentieth century.<br />
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Her influence on the women's movement and on the study of gender has been profound. She is remembered for her courage and for her intellectual honesty.<br />
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Her life and her work have been the subject of many biographies. She remains a model of the engaged writer.<br />
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== The Early Philosophical Work ==<br />
Beauvoir studied philosophy and wrote on the relation between the individual and the collective. She Was Born is a study of the philosophy of her time.<br />
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She wrote a novel, She Came to Stay, that describes the relations of a couple and the theme of freedom. The novel was based on her own experience and caused a scandal.<br />
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She wrote on the ethics of ambiguity in The Ethics of Ambiguity, published in 1947. The work develops the theme of the freedom that is the basis of moral action.<br />
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== The Second Sex and Its Reception ==<br />
The Second Sex was published in two volumes and was translated into many languages. The book was influential and controversial.<br />
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The work examines biology, psychoanalysis, and history, and it analyses the situation of women in different societies. The famous distinction between sex and gender has been central to feminist theory.<br />
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The book was criticised by some and praised by many. It contributed to the revival of the feminist movement in the 1960s.<br />
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== The Autobiography ==<br />
The memoirs are a record of the life of a woman intellectual in the twentieth century. The volumes describe her childhood, her education, her relationship with Sartre, and her engagement in politics.<br />
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The autobiography is an important work of the genre. It is admired for its honesty and for its picture of the intellectual milieu.<br />
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The work formed the model for a number of memoirs by other writers. It is a source for the study of the period.<br />
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== The Relation with Sartre ==<br />
The relationship between Beauvoir and Sartre was a partnership of equals. They were companions and collaborators, and they were also free to have other relationships.<br />
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The arrangement was unconventional and generated much comment. The couple shared ideas and read each other's work.<br />
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The relation has been the subject of biographies and of debate. It is regarded as one of the most important intellectual partnerships of the twentieth century.<br />
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== Later Work and Legacy ==<br />
Beauvoir wrote on old age and on the condition of the elderly. She was active in the feminist movement in her later years.<br />
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She supported the campaign for the legalisation of abortion and took part in public demonstrations. She was a member of the French Women's Liberation Movement.<br />
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Her death in 1986 was followed by an enormous demonstration at her funeral. Her work continues to be read and debated.<br />
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She is regarded as the founder of modern feminist theory and as a major writer. Her influence on the study of gender has been profound.<br />
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== See also ==<br />
* The Second Sex<br />
* Feminism<br />
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== References ==<br />
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<ref name="r1">Bair, Deirdre. Simone de Beauvoir: A Biography. New York: Summit Books, 1990.</ref><br />
<ref name="r2">Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. Paris: Gallimard, 1949.</ref><br />
<ref name="r3">Fullbrook, Kate and Edward. Simone de Beauvoir: A Critical Introduction. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1998.</ref><br />
<ref name="r4">Moi, Toril. Simone de Beauvoir: The Making of an Intellectual Woman. Oxford: Blackwell, 1994.</ref><br />
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[[Category:Philosophy]]<br />
[[Category:Literature]]<br />
[[Category:France]]</div>Huhu