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The Second Sex
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
Newly translated and unabridged in English for the first time, and brilliantly introduced by Judith Thurman, Simone de Beauvoirs masterpiece weaves together history, philosophy, economics, biology, and a host of other disciplines to analyze the Western notion of woman and to explore the power of sexuality. Sixty years after its initial publication, The Second Sex is still as eye-opening and pertinent as ever. This triumphant and genuinely revolutionary book began as an exceptional womans attempt to find out who and what she was. Drawing on extensive interviews with women of every age and station of life, masterfully synthesizing research about womens bodies and psyches as well as their historic and economic roles, The Second Sex is an encyclopedic and cogently argued document about inequality and enforced otherness. This long-awaited new translation pays particular attention to the existentialist terms and French nuances that may have been misconstrued in the first English edition; restores Beauvoirs phrasing, rhythms, and tone; and reinstates significant portions of the Myths and History chapters that were originally cut due to length, including accounts of more than seventy female figures. A vital and life-changing work that has dramatically revised the way women talk and think about themselves, Beauvoirs magisterial treatise continues to provoke and inspire.
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Elisah
Il secondo sesso | Simone de Beauvoir
Pickpick

Non si può prescindere da quest‘opera per capire ciò che è stato scritto dopo. Senza questo, non ci sarebbero stati gli altri.

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arlenefinnigan
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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Pickpick


Well this was quite the challenge. I thought I'd 'get' this - after all, I've got a degree in sociology. I don't, however, have degrees in philosophy, psychology (the Freudian stuff made me cringe I'm afraid), history, politics, evolutionary biology, etc etc. It's a formidable work and very impressive in its scope but I have to admit a lot of it went over my head.

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arlenefinnigan
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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Next up

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AlRah
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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DebinHawaii Welcome to Litsy! 🎉📚🎉Hope you enjoy it here! 4y
AlRah @DebinHawaii Thank you😀 4y
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Moll
Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir
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Okie dokie artichokie - I've only ever really read Jacqueline Wilson who I believe is gay & has some gay characters. Clearly therefore this one needs some work - I really want to read some of Simone De Beauvior's work & am going to look through this tag to see what you guys recommend!

#integrateyourshelf @ChasingOm @Emilymdxn

ChasingOm This group has SO many good recommendations, lol. 4y
Moll @ChasingOm And my 'to read' list is getting so long bc of it😂 4y
Emilymdxn We are a lean mean recommending machine 4y
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Moll @Emilymdxn hahaha, indeedy! 4y
runswithscissors007 I am doing the same! (looking through the tag for recommendations!)
4y
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ulyssesartmiller
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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New in-person buddy read!

ramblingsofareader I‘ve read various extracts of this throughout my degree and have always thought I ought to read the whole thing, definitely interested in hearing your thoughts! 4y
jen_the_scribe Just put this on my TBR list after reading At the Existentialist Café 4y
ulyssesartmiller @ramblingsofareader might take a while, but they‘ll come! 😅 4y
ulyssesartmiller @jen_the_scribe yeah, I should read that one. For better or worse, this is my first serious foray into philosophy. I guess we‘ll see how it goes! 4y
jen_the_scribe @ulyssesartmiller At the Existentialist Café was my first as well, one things for sure, philosophers do not lead dull lives lol 4y
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Emilymdxn
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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Pickpick

So glad I read this! Written in 1949, I knew it would be outdated in some ways and it was, particularly its use of psychoanalysis, but I was mainly surprised by how much of it didn‘t feel out of date. I‘ve read feminist texts from the 80s that stand up less well than this today. I‘m so glad I read the original rather than just reading about it, Simone de Beauvoir is such an icon for me.

#widehorizonsreadathon

ChaoticMissAdventures This has been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years... Good to hear likes for it to remind me to give it a try. 5y
Curiouser_and_curiouser I have had this on my shelf for soooooo many years, it's nowhere near my TBR but maybe I should move it up? Thanks for your review 🙂 5y
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Emilymdxn
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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@MoonWitch94 #thoughtfulthursday

1. The second sex on audio, rabbits for food in print and the wild places on kindle

2. Cliche but my boyfriend 💖 he‘s the person I feel most at home with and have the most fun with, he‘s the most interesting person I know

3. Everywhere I haven‘t been yet lol, I think the two places I‘ve been that I‘ve most enjoyed were Montreal and Warsaw (very different!)

LinesUponAPage #3 is very different places. I‘m not sure where my favorite spot is either. I think being happiest with your boyfriend sounds lovely. 5y
Emilymdxn @Lifeisasnap for sure! Montreal is where my boyfriend did his masters while I lived in England, so the trips I had to visit him were such perfect trips it‘s like my fave city in the world because of those memories. Warsaw was the first Eastern European city we went to together and that‘s pretty much our fave place to go together now 5y
LinesUponAPage @Emilymdxn those are great memories.
5y
MoonWitch94 I literally could say EVERYWHERE I have been, lol. I love traveling. 5y
Arun2221 Wow 5y
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MrBook
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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Replenishment for my #GreatestBooks Display! 😁

Have you read any of these?!

#BookTalk

Shvonne Who hasn‘t read The Diary of Anne Frank 5y
Lola I read The Jungle in school and it really moved me. Really want to read it again as an adult. Still haven‘t read Little Women 😳 5y
josie281 @Lola I keep trying to read Little Women and keep bailing! 5y
Lola @josie281 That‘s exactly what‘s happened to me. I bought a beautiful Penguin Threads edition a few years ago thinking it would inspire me to try again but so far it hasn‘t 🤣 5y
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Bibliotini
Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir
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Published in the Guardian. I dare you to expand your mind.

DivineDiana A great list! 👍🏻 6y
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Sophoclessweetheart
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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Bailedbailed

{#FiercelyFemaleReads 🖤🌻}

Bailing on The Second Sex because it is outdated and also male bashing and hateful. I don‘t know what “feminism” was then but to me feminism is equality for the human race. That means men, women and other genders and sexes, all creeds and colours... not just women. Feminism is not about sexism towards men, which is 98% all this book appears to be — sexism towards men. It‘s disgusting. #booklover #feminist #butnotsexist

Cathythoughts Well said 👍🏻❤️ 6y
Sophoclessweetheart @Cathythoughts Thank you Cathy. I‘m so horrified by this book and the fact that it‘s supposedly one of THE top books on feminism. If this is what feminism is supposed to be like, count me out. 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ 6y
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Sophoclessweetheart
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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{#fiercelyfemalereads 🖤🌻}

Thoughts so far; why is the text so so tiny and BOLD? Let‘s make it all bold so it‘s hard to read and vaguely shouty? 🤷🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ Why is there a chapter on D. H. Lawrence in the contents? If De Beauvoir starts talking smack about him I‘m going to launch this tome through the window. That is all. #bookworm #booklover #bookaddict

BethM That bookmark 😍 6y
Bronte_Chintz 😂😂😂😂 there is nothing about this rant I don‘t love. 6y
Sophoclessweetheart @BethM Thank you! It was a gift from the Lovely Jordan @somebooksaround 🖤 6y
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Sophoclessweetheart @Bronte_Chintz Why thank you 😹 I‘m deadly serious though, who decided the text should be so bold? 🤷🏼‍♀️ You can almost not even make the shape of the letters out. And D. H. Lawrence is my bae, I won‘t have him badmouthed 👀👀 6y
Bronte_Chintz @Sorceryandswords I hate it when books put the writing in bold. I find it really hard to focus on. I totally agree..... no badmouthing DHL! 😂💖🙌🏻 6y
Sophoclessweetheart @Bronte_Chintz It‘s THE worst! It‘s making the book feel much more preachy than it should seem x 6y
Bronte_Chintz @Sorceryandswords SHOUTY BOLD WORDS 😂 6y
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Sophoclessweetheart
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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{#currentlyreading 🖤🌻}

My bookmail arrived!! The Classical Greek dictionary may be a CR for a few months whilst I familiarise myself with pronunciation and aorists. I‘m really really looking forward to devouring Phaedo and The Second Sex is #FiercelyFemaleReads first official read! It‘s a TOME but I‘ve always been a lover of big books so let‘s do this 👊 #booklover #bookaddict #bookworm #feminism #classicist #plato

quietlycuriouskate Ye gods, I'd (happily) forgotten that the aorist was even a thing! I didn't get on with Ancient Greek: I adored Latin, though. 6y
Sophoclessweetheart @River_Voice I‘m hoping it‘s not as scary as people have told me! 😹🤦🏼‍♀️ 6y
batsy I'd join in for The Second Sex if I wasn't already in another tome-ish buddy read (and behind on several challenges 😅) 6y
Sophoclessweetheart @batsy Aww, a shame. But maybe next time 🖤🖤 6y
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MirrorMask
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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vkois88 👍👍👍 6y
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MirrorMask
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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charl08
Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir
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Have I mentioned how much I like bookish adverts?

GabrielleDubois And this one is so true! 6y
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batsy
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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I'm sure I'll get around to reading the whole thing someday 😬

#female #maylovesclassics #litsyclassics @Sarah83 @Bambolina_81

Tove_Reads I liked it! 7y
Suet624 🤓🤓 7y
EvieBee A nice goal! 7y
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emilyhaldi 😅🤞🏻 7y
Simona I tried to read it in my teen years ... and I didn‘t succeed ... 7y
readordierachel I feel you 😂 7y
batsy @Tove_Reads That's good to know! I liked the bits I've read; just need to make time for the whole thing. 7y
batsy @Simona You have my respect! Don't think I would have attempted it in my teens 😆😘 7y
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Kathrin
Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir
Bailedbailed

In my opinion, this is too dry, too repetitive and just plain outdated. I don‘t need 800 pages to be shown with evidence out of history and literature that a women is a second class human in a patriarchal society. I guess that‘s one of the big accomplishments of feminism that we are aware. I am more interested at this point to get pointers on how to slay the dragon.

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TheBookbabeblog84
Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir
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I‘m texting this to my dad first thing in the morning.....because for some reason my being all of the above can be a bit to hard to handle. #books #women #simonedebeauvoir

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Cathythoughts
Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir
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#QuotsyFeb #style I can‘t remember the exact quote. But I remember reading Simone de Beauvoir & she said of Sartre‘s mother : that even when she was old , she turned heads in the street , because she held herself with such dignity & style. ( pic of de Beauvoir)

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Kathrin
Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir
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Kathrin
Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir
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Kathrin
Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir
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So far so good... It's very interesting, but very dense.

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Kathrin
Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir
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nofutureparttwo
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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Some incredible finds from this morning‘s trip to my library‘s used book sale! They‘re all in excellent condition, and absurdly cheap (25¢ for paper, 50¢ for hc). I‘m especially excited about the de Beauvoir and the Amis. Also, turns out all of the hardcovers were first editions—including Ragtime (pub. 1975), and Cold Mountain (pub. 1997). #bookhaul #usedbooks #booksale

mrozzz 😲😲😲 7y
Tamra Like winning the lottery! 7y
ValerieAndBooks 😮 😲 Awesome! A lot of good ones in there!! 7y
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DeeLew
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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LitsyFeministBookClub
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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Happy birthday to Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)!! De Beauvoir was a French feminist writer & intellectual best known for her contribution of feminist existentialism. She argued that women are the Second Sex because they are always viewed in relation to men as "the Other," & therefore must comport to patriarchal norms. She also wrote novels & was active in the French women's liberation movement. ??‍???

And she put up with Sartre. ?

kspenmoll 👏😂 8y
mischa HAHAHAHA 8y
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TheAnitaAlvarez
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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Pickpick

Always cool to reread this badass lady. #RoryGilmoresReadingChallenge

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ellenorange
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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Dissertation reading... So it begins!

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Marginalia
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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Repost from Litsy user @Lauren -- "This is it, Simone" ?

SGJ Wonderful. 9y
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Lauren
The Second Sex | Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
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