The Second Sex

Ranked #4 in Gender, Ranked #6 in Feminismsee more rankings.

Newly translated and unabridged in English for the first time, and brilliantly introduced by Judith Thurman, Simone de Beauvoir’s masterpiece weaves together history, philosophy, economics, biology, and a host of other disciplines to analyze the Western notion of “woman” and to explore the power of sexuality.

Sixty years after its initial publication, The Second Sex is still as eye-opening and pertinent as ever. This triumphant and genuinely revolutionary book began as an exceptional woman’s attempt to find out who and what she was. Drawing on extensive interviews with women...
more

Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of The Second Sex from the world's leading experts.

Arianna Huffington Founder/The Huffington PostGreat Thrive Questionnaire by @smlafleur, founder of M.M.LaFleur. On the book that changed her life, The Second Sex: "it changed my entire perception about what it means to be a woman, and it may be the unconscious reason behind why I started my company." https://t.co/tudVOb28J2 (Source)

Erica Jong The French literary world is incredibly sexist and here was one of their darlings pointing out how much they discriminate. (Source)

Belinda Jack In making a distinction between sex and gender she drew attention to how much of what women had to contend with was actually something that society imposes. (Source)

Skye C Cleary Beauvoir argued that we need to be free from oppression in order to be free to live and love authentically. (Source)


Rankings by Category

The Second Sex is ranked in the following categories:


Similar Books

If you like The Second Sex, check out these similar top-rated books:


Learn: What makes Shortform summaries the best in the world?