In the conclusion of The Second Sex, Montaigne states, “It is
easier to accuse one sex than to excuse the other (755).” I found this section of the text to be very
important to the entire message of the book.
Instead of blaming men for all that they have done, women should move
past this and work together with men.
Women and men cannot separate themselves from one another so rebellion
against one another will only lead to imbalance and more conflict. As De Beauvoir says, “the vicious circle is
so difficult to break here because each sex is victim both of the other and of
itself; between two adversaries confronting each other in pure freedom
(755).” Therefore, the main problem is
that each sex tries to become more free or independent than the other. Moreover, the idea that the more free one
sex is the less free the other is incorrect.
Only by getting rid of this ideology can the sexes live equally with one
another. Instead of fighting between themselves, the sexes must work together as equals to become equals. Everyone must realize that it is in both of
their interests to cooperate despite differences. Men will always need women and women will
always need men so it is to everyone’s benefit to make this relationship as
equal and healthy as possible.
Furthermore, the freedom and happiness of one sex does not decrease as
the others increases. The sexes should
not try to restrict the other but work towards the mutual benefit of the
whole. Therefore, women should not try
to make themselves equal by depriving or harming men but instead by educating men
and converting men to an ideology of equality of the sexes. In addition, men need to spread this idea
amongst themselves.
I believe our society today shows that this is
in fact the best method to create equality.
Educated women and men are working together to create equality of the
sexes and are making great progress. This
mutual goal of fairness is increasing in younger generations and I believe will
eventually lead to complete equality.
Evan's post intrigued me, especially when he stated, "women should not try to make themselves equal by depriving or harming men," because I read the conclusion a bit differently. This post reminded me of the "feminine," "emancipated," and "modern" women de Beauvoir speaks of on pages 754 and 755. De Beauvoir says the "'modern' woman accepts masculine values: she prides herself on thinking, acting, working, and creating on the same basis as males; instead of trying to belittle them, she declares herself their equal" (755). So the woman determines the equality, rather than working with men to create an equality
ReplyDeleteEvan, I like how you talk about this sort of equality between the sexes. I just wanted to point out the last sentence of the book is "men and women must, among other things and beyond their natural differentiations, unequivocally affirm their brotherhood" (766). I thought that this sentence was ironic in that the book ends on this note of men and women being equal in brotherhood... but brotherhood is this word associated with men. It seems like an odd choice to end the book on this note of equality but then associating this with brotherhood which is a sexed term.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate Iska's observation that de Beauvoir believes "modern women" (755) are attempting to becoming like men and assume masculine traits, though de Beauvoir later endorses cooperation between the sexes and believes cooperation is necessary. I think this can be synthesized with Marlee's observation on the use of the term "brotherhood" (766) to come to the understanding that de Beauvoir falls into the trap of defining the female in term of the male, perpetuating her "Other"-ness even as she attempts to discover a way to abolish it.
ReplyDeleteAs Marlee and Lachlan have noted, the use of the word "brotherhood" displays the continual dominance of masculinity, despite de Beauvoir's support of unity. While this terminology is ironic, it also portrays something about our culture that de Beauvoir also points out in this reading. In her literature, she claims that the essence of woman is shaped by deeply engrained societal norms, not any biological physiological bases. She describes "how woman is taught to assume her condition," or how she learns her subordinate role from the culture around her (279). This explains de Beauvoir's use of the term "brotherhood" because the word is heavy with cultural reference based on a male dominated culture. Even in concluding her book, De Beauvoir cannot escape the historical context of a sexist culture.
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