"Why is woman the Other?"
This book has been a constant attraction to me for years now. I wanted to much to read it but was always scared away by its volume and density. I started it more than once but never proceeded beyond the introduction. This time I meant to finish it and I am working on it. It's august 2016. And let's see when will I end it.
The amount of biological knowledge in the first part of Book One is astounding. It should have taken a really huge effort from Simone to get through all this information and form them into a train of thoughts that is really enlightening. She took me through the eternal male-female relation in all living organisms from one-celled organisms to the fully evolved adult human beings, walking past insects, animals, fish, primates, mammals. It was an adventure so enlightening and revealing.
"The two gametes at once transcend and perpetuate themselves when they unite; but in its structure the egg anticipates future needs, it is so constituted as to nourish the life that will wake within it. The sperm, on the contrary, is in no way equipped to provide for the development of the embryo it awakens. On the other hand, the egg cannot provide the change of environment that will stimulate a new outburst of life, whereas the sperm can and does travel. Without the foresight of the egg, the sperm's arrival would be in vain; but without the initiative of the latter, the egg would not fulfil its living potentialities.
We may conclude, then, that the two gametes play a fundamentally identical role; together they create a living being in which both of them are at once lost and transcended. But in the secondary and superficial phenomena upon which fertilisation depends, it is the male element which provides the stimuli needed for evoking new life and it is the female element that enables this new life to be lodged in a stable organism."
This previous extract, from "The Data of Biology" In Book 1, is the beautifully described reproduction process in human beings which shows no dominance of man on woman but a cooperation and harmonious partnership. The female is always enslaved by the species and mostly this is reflected in limitations of her various powers. A woman also suffers from an alienation from her body during the different stages of her life while a man is always one with his body. However, Simone de Beavoir noted that biology and anatomy alone cannot account for an answer to the question posed by the book.
Next she take us in tour through psychoanalysis. Her main criticism to it is that Freud based his interpretation always starting off from the male libido, the male , the sovereignty of the father which he is ignorant as to where the origins of male supremacy.
"To be a woman would mean to be the object, the Other - and the Other nevertheless remains subject in the midst of her resignation. "
More coming soon..........................
This book has been a constant attraction to me for years now. I wanted to much to read it but was always scared away by its volume and density. I started it more than once but never proceeded beyond the introduction. This time I meant to finish it and I am working on it. It's august 2016. And let's see when will I end it.
The amount of biological knowledge in the first part of Book One is astounding. It should have taken a really huge effort from Simone to get through all this information and form them into a train of thoughts that is really enlightening. She took me through the eternal male-female relation in all living organisms from one-celled organisms to the fully evolved adult human beings, walking past insects, animals, fish, primates, mammals. It was an adventure so enlightening and revealing.
"The two gametes at once transcend and perpetuate themselves when they unite; but in its structure the egg anticipates future needs, it is so constituted as to nourish the life that will wake within it. The sperm, on the contrary, is in no way equipped to provide for the development of the embryo it awakens. On the other hand, the egg cannot provide the change of environment that will stimulate a new outburst of life, whereas the sperm can and does travel. Without the foresight of the egg, the sperm's arrival would be in vain; but without the initiative of the latter, the egg would not fulfil its living potentialities.
We may conclude, then, that the two gametes play a fundamentally identical role; together they create a living being in which both of them are at once lost and transcended. But in the secondary and superficial phenomena upon which fertilisation depends, it is the male element which provides the stimuli needed for evoking new life and it is the female element that enables this new life to be lodged in a stable organism."
This previous extract, from "The Data of Biology" In Book 1, is the beautifully described reproduction process in human beings which shows no dominance of man on woman but a cooperation and harmonious partnership. The female is always enslaved by the species and mostly this is reflected in limitations of her various powers. A woman also suffers from an alienation from her body during the different stages of her life while a man is always one with his body. However, Simone de Beavoir noted that biology and anatomy alone cannot account for an answer to the question posed by the book.
Next she take us in tour through psychoanalysis. Her main criticism to it is that Freud based his interpretation always starting off from the male libido, the male , the sovereignty of the father which he is ignorant as to where the origins of male supremacy.
"To be a woman would mean to be the object, the Other - and the Other nevertheless remains subject in the midst of her resignation. "
More coming soon..........................
In September 2016,
Next, the book digs into the history of humanity, the history of woman in the Human story. The woman moved from a weaker but equal companion into the Mother, the Earth, the sacred Woman and then at some point she turned into man's private property, the insignificant Other. The fear of woman, she carries the truth of life in her, birth and death, she reminds man of his mortality, his limit, his weakness.
These two parts of the book is really intriguing. The myth, the fear and the hope of man in woman. She was feared, degraded, slavered, exploited, but never made equal. Of course, writing this book in the 40's the environment and society and norm was different. I wonder what Simone would think of woman of our age. Woman of this age has gone a long way and gained the liberty and the respect of an equal human to some extent. This extend change from one part of the globe to another. Because till today in some societies women is still looked down as incapable, as the weaker, lesser intelligent of the two sexes. Her biological function still lays as a burden on her shoulder. It seems as if it is her mistake, her problem that she was chosen by nature to be different, to take part in the eternal process of life. But man still takes this as her weakness. I think, this may be due to his fear of that role she plays. I think when man lack courage, lack confidence, lack the guts to face difference, he plays the role of superior and project his inferiority on the other, the woman.
In most of the Arab societies, a woman is still to some extent objectified. An eastern arabic man still sees her as object of desire, a sex tool made just for his satisfaction and his name's continuation.
I think there is a balance, an equality that is so unique. A man and woman can have a balanced and nurturing relationship. But such a balance needed confidence, courage and love.
More coming soon ...........................................................
These two parts of the book is really intriguing. The myth, the fear and the hope of man in woman. She was feared, degraded, slavered, exploited, but never made equal. Of course, writing this book in the 40's the environment and society and norm was different. I wonder what Simone would think of woman of our age. Woman of this age has gone a long way and gained the liberty and the respect of an equal human to some extent. This extend change from one part of the globe to another. Because till today in some societies women is still looked down as incapable, as the weaker, lesser intelligent of the two sexes. Her biological function still lays as a burden on her shoulder. It seems as if it is her mistake, her problem that she was chosen by nature to be different, to take part in the eternal process of life. But man still takes this as her weakness. I think, this may be due to his fear of that role she plays. I think when man lack courage, lack confidence, lack the guts to face difference, he plays the role of superior and project his inferiority on the other, the woman.
In most of the Arab societies, a woman is still to some extent objectified. An eastern arabic man still sees her as object of desire, a sex tool made just for his satisfaction and his name's continuation.
I think there is a balance, an equality that is so unique. A man and woman can have a balanced and nurturing relationship. But such a balance needed confidence, courage and love.
More coming soon ...........................................................
