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Synopsis "One is not born a woman, one becomes one"--this is the main theme of de Beauvoir's classic 1949 study of the status of women, in which she attempts to show how simply being born female affects a woman's life and choices. The book counsels women not to passively accept their lot, but to pursue meaningful work, and to fight the status of "second sex" that has been unfairly allotted to them because of their capacity to bear children. De Beauvoir weaves together history, philosophy, economics, biology, and literature in a scholarly but accessible study that was ahead of its time, and that is seen as the seminal work in feminist studies.
Industry Reviews "This is no piece of flamboyant journalism and certainly not a petulant defense of her sex. Nor is it merely an extended essay, although it is indeed literature in the grand sense. Essentially this is a treatise which integrates the most variegated strands of history, philosophy, economics, biology, belles-lettres, sociology and anthropology. I cannot think of a single American scholar, man or woman, who controls such a vast body of knowledge as this French writer....It is a truly magnificent book..." New York Times Book Review - Clyde Kluckhohn (02/22/1953)
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