Although Simone de Beauvoir is widely considered a primary influence on contemporary feminism, she particularly criticizes women in her most famous book, The Second Sex. In illustrating the history of female oppression, Beauvoir highlights all the character deficiencies that result from mistreatment. He accuses women of narcissism, irrationality, indecisiveness, emotionality and selfishness. Despite raising such harsh criticisms of her own sex, Beauvoir goes to great lengths to argue that it is a woman's situation, and not her essence, that is responsible for her inferiority. Women suffer from these character defects according to Beauvoir, because male dominance has prevented them from developing normally within society. Although woman is a "free and autonomous human being" like man, male-dominated society forces her into the role of the Other. Her freedom and her chances of success are limited, and she is therefore forced into immanence. Despite his emphasis on social causes, Beauvoir's explanation for female character defects appears inadequate in light of his biological arguments. Reading The Second Sex, it becomes clear that Beauvoir considers nature to be a serious disadvantage for the female sex. It establishes that menstruation and childbirth temporarily incapacitate women and that they face their bodies as something other than themselves (20, 29). If, as Beauvoir claims, the body is a primary instrument of transcendence (38), then it is difficult to accept his claim that women can become equal to men. Despite the lucidity of her arguments about gender relations, Beauvoir does an inadequate job of separating a woman's social difficulties, which are remediable, from her biological ones, which are irremediable. Thus, Stevie Smith is right to state, “it is soon clear that she does not like [women], nor does she like being a woman” (xiv). Although she attributes women's inferiority to their situation, Beauvoir expresses several doubts about the possibility of female transcendence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The woman described by Beauvoir in The Second Sex is never fully in control of herself. Unlike the male body, the female body suffers periodically and presents various obstacles to transcendence. Beauvoir argues that menstruation and childbirth inhibit a woman's ability to work to a certain extent, and that naturally a woman has less control over her emotions than men. "From puberty to menopause, women are the theater of a work that takes place within her and in which she is not primarily involved", writes Beauvoir (27). Therefore, it is difficult to distinguish between the effects of social oppression and those of biology in explaining female character. Throughout The Second Sex, Beauvoir states that women are alienated from their bodies in a way that men are not, but if this is true, this alienation must hurt women psychologically. If the body is the primary means to transcendence according to Beauvoir, then it becomes impossible for women to face the world with confidence. Thus, The Second Sex questions women's ability to achieve transcendence despite claiming to do otherwise. Although Beauvoir downplays the role of biology in explaining female inferiority, she notes notable natural disadvantages for women. Beauvoir emphasizes that the nature of sexual intercourse consolidates the woman's inferiority. He writes, “Even when she is available, or provocative, it is arguably the male who gets the female: she gets taken” (21). Beauvoir argues thatthe act of penetration asserts the male's dominance. Although the female is as important as the male for fertilization, the latter plays the more active or transcendent role during intercourse. Since the nature of coitus plays a role in establishing female immanence (22), it is difficult to accept Beauvoir's claims that a woman's situation can explain her passivity (597). This feeling of acquiescence is responsible for women's irrationality and prevents them from achieving transcendence according to Beauvoir. She argues that both a woman's biological and social circumstances lead her to believe in magic rather than reason. She states that "the world does not seem to women to be an intermediate 'set of instruments' between her will and her goals... it is dominated by fatality and permeated with mysterious whims" (598). According to Beauvoir, women live mysterious experiences that confirm their passivity. Like a divining rod, the physical presence of a woman activates an inexplicable force that attracts the male sex. Beauvoir says pregnancy is another disconcerting experience. Although a woman has sexual intercourse, the development of a child in her womb appears mysterious to her (599). Therefore, a woman's passive role in life leads her to believe in magic instead of reason and has deleterious effects on her character. Having an aversion to male logic, she accepts authority without question. This affinity with male power causes women to be conservative in politics and submit in the face of difficulties. Beauvoir admits that women worship government and law almost to the point of fanaticism (600). Therefore, Beauvoir believes that although they may complain about male dominance, women lack the conviction to counter it (617). He sees that the contradictory nature of female behavior causes their immanence. Because the woman admires male transcendence, she is prevented from turning her complaints into action. Describing women's contradictory attitudes towards men, Beauvoir writes: "No doubt he is a child, a necessary and vulnerable body, he is a simpleton, a troublesome drone, a petty tyrant, a vain egoist; but he is also the liberating hero , the divinity that bestows values” (617). Because Beauvoir confuses the natural and social factors that influence a woman's character, it is difficult to discern his attitude towards women. Although he detests their belief in magic and blind reverence for male power, establishes that the awkward relationship between women and their bodies is partly responsible for these character deficiencies. This fact suggests that women's irrationality is partly intrinsic and therefore demonstrates Beauvoir's aversion to her own sex. .Because women cannot change the male-dominated world, they are irrational in action as well as in thought according to Beauvoir. He argues that women behave emotionally and engage in helpless protests. “The fact is that woman is always willing to take on an attitude of frustration towards the world because she has never frankly accepted it,” Beauvoir writes (608). When faced with an injustice, a woman cries and her tears offer her consolation and a certain satisfaction if they annoy men. According to Beauvoir (609), when tears become insufficient to express their resentment, women resort to ineffective displays of violence. Their theatrical attempts to inflict pain on the male stem from their inability to exact real revenge for their subordination. Unable to impose their will on others as men do, women express their negative feelings about their situation through outbursts of anger andattacks. Overall, Beauvoir believes that these forms of protest showcase women's theatricality and affirm their self-indulgence. In his opinion, women consider the protest demonstration to be more significant than its results. In support of this statement, Beauvoir highlights the fact that, although suicide is more common in men than in women, suicide attempts are more common among the latter (609). Beauvoir says that while women may complain about their situation, they don't want to part with it. Women choose to continue a life that hurts them because they do not want “permanent solutions” like men (610). As with many of her criticisms, Beauvoir provides natural and social reasons for women's impracticality. Beauvoir believes that both education and lower nervous control influence their emotionality. The author focuses on the effects of education by pointing out that in the past it was common for men to cry (608). Despite the reasons for female emotionality, Beauvoir describes the woman as a child and thus shows her desire to escape from her own sex. Forced to accept a situation with which he does not agree, the child resorts to crying and theatrical forms of protest. Often this protest leads to nothing and only serves to demonstrate his impotence towards those who dictate the rules. Like other female character flaws, Beauvoir points out that women's self-indulgence has its roots in their social situation, particularly childhood. . While the boy identifies with his penis and makes it a symbol of his autonomy, the little girl associates herself with a passive object, the doll. Just as a little girl dresses the doll and admires its beauty, she too wants to be admired according to Beauvoir (278-9). To satisfy the male sex, women learn that they must give up their autonomy and transform themselves into beautified objects. Therefore, narcissism arises in women, because since childhood they have been taught to please others. By dominating his peers and conquering nature, the male feels that his body affirms his own transcendence (280). Instead, the female thinks of herself as the "Other" that the male dominates. His body does not represent strength, but acts like a "living doll" (279). Beauvoir asserts that women cannot produce work of great value until they give up their self-indulgence. “Of the legion of women who enjoy the arts and letters, very few persevere,” Beauvoir states, “and even those who overcome this first hurdle will very often continue to be torn between their narcissism and an inferiority complex” (706) . She argues that instead of using art to reveal some truth about the world, women treat art as a means of self-expression. Their attention is not on the art itself, but rather on the recognition it entails. Therefore, women writers do not have the resolve to contemplate the world in the same way as Fyodor Dostoevsky or Leo Tolstoy. Beauvoir even argues that the novels of female writers such as Virginia Woolf or Jane Austen are inferior to those of great male authors (709). Although Beauvoir disapproves of narcissism and its effects on women's work, she takes pains to point out that women's situation causes their artistic inferiority. She argues that women's inferiority in the past reflects their situation and not their essence. But Beauvoir's quickness to dismiss female authors and her criticism of the superficiality of women's literature indicate the antipathy of her own sex. She argues that once women are liberated, they will produce transcendent work. However, he also notes that their biological disadvantages are a significant source of their subjugation.Along with his confusion between the biological and the social, Beauvoir takes on a strange perspective when writing The Second Sex. Beauvoir criticizes women by assuming that she is separate from them. To some extent, this separation is necessary to write a book about the history of female oppression and its consequences. If Beauvoir were guilty of the narcissism, irrationality, and passivity she finds in other women, then she would discredit her own work. However, the idea that she is a unique woman who has overcome social difficulties confirms her dislike of her sex. Commenting on women writers, Beauvoir writes: "women do not contest the human situation, because they have only just begun to take it on... their works mostly lack metaphysical resonances and even anger... they do not ask questions, yes highlight its contradictions” (711). Although she does not do so explicitly, Beauvoir refers to the objectives of The Second Sex in the quote. It is therefore evident that Beauvoir considers herself separate from typical women in terms of intellectual capacity and freedom criticism of the female sex, Beauvoir does not refer to herself as affected by the woman's alienation from her body or male domination. Perhaps she leaves out any personal reference to give The Second Sex a sense of objectivity and accuracy Beauvoir's separation from other women makes her criticisms more malicious and indicates her dislike of being a woman. Although Beauvoir dislikes the qualities exhibited by all women, she criticizes some women more harshly than others in The Second Sex. Beauvoir completely disapproves of women who are capable of improving their situation, but have chosen a domestic life. Discussing the French Revolution, she states that upper-class women chose to protect their economic privileges instead of fighting for equal rights (112.626). In her view, women could move closer to equality if more political working-class women were empowered (110). Speaking of the present, she calls upper-class housewives "parasites" and claims that they demoralize women who aspire to be independent (699). According to Beauvoir, their wealthy status tempts the independent woman who faces the difficulty of achieving her own success. She says this temptation to give up independence for a domestic life prevents women from achieving great things. Because Beauvoir believes that most males find an intelligent woman unattractive, women are caught between expressing their ambition and their femininity. This indecision leads them to make timid efforts to succeed in their careers, because they don't want to miss the chance of becoming housewives. Beauvoir writes that «she [the woman] moves forward not with her eyes fixed on a goal, but with her gaze wandering around her in every direction; and even his gait is timid and uncertain” (699). For this reason, Beauvoir believes that women will settle for mediocre results rather than great results. Unable to pursue their goals with confidence, most women will settle for attempting something rather than excelling at it (701). Therefore, Beauvoir believes that upper-class women inhibit more independent women in their struggle for transcendence. Because it is more difficult for women to dedicate themselves to a task, the achievements of great women pale in comparison to those of great men (702). Although Beauvoir denounces upper-class women for their negative influence on others, he accuses all women of having character flaws in The Second Sex. His attitude towards different social classes influences some of his criticisms, but does not alter his general ones.