The Second Sex - Softcover

De Beauvoir, Simone

Softcover

ISBN 10: 009974421X ISBN 13: 9780099744214

Publisher: Vintage Classics, 1997

Synopsis

TRANSLATED BY H.M. PARSHLEY

Of all the writing that emerged from the existentialist movement, Simone de Beauvoir's groundbreaking study of women will probably have the most extensive and enduring impact. It is at once a work of anthropology and sociology, of biology and psychoanalysis, from the pen of a writer and novelist of penetrating imaginative power. THE SECOND SEX stands, four decades after its first appearance, as the first landmark in the modern feminist upsurge that has transformed perceptions of the social relationship of man and womankind in our time.

About this title

Review

In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir posed questions many men, and women, had yet to ponder when the book was released in 1953. "One wonders if women still exist, if they will always exist, whether or not it is desirable that they should..." she says in this comprehensive treatise on women. She weaves together history, philosophy, economics, biology and a host of other disciplines to show women's place in the world and to postulate on the power of sexuality. This is a powerful piece of writing in a time before "feminism" was even a phrase, much less a movement. --Christine Buttery

Review

"A masterpiece" (Vogue)

"Discovering The Second Sex was like an explosion in my skull, shattering illusions bred in a conventional fifties childhood...Re-reading the book now I realise how much of it is still entirely relevant, and that (despite advances) women are as much in need of liberation as ever" (Bel Mooney)

"De Beauvoir was not just a genius as a theorist. She dared to live it. Challenging conventional marriage and sexual practice, she used her own experience to explore the emotional costs of jealousy, attachment, monogamy, bohemianism, sexuality, of love" (Susie Orbach)

"A fine piece of work, a lucid translation" (Independent)

"A fresh, much expanded, more intelligible book which repays re-reading by adherents of the old version, and cries out for attention from young women who have not been exposed to this most powerful of feminist thinkers" (Irish Times)

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage Classics
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 009974421X
• ISBN 13: 9780099744214
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 880