Simon uses the question “what is a woman” to showcase the idea and how it applies to men and their perception of women. For instance, “what is a woman” has been used to argue that women are always wrong, men are always right. The view has been brought forward to depict masculinity which, on the other hand, has an effect on the women as they have been seen as objects, and no respect has been accorded to them. Men, in this case, have been given cultural powers over women and thus have been given more authority to rule. Simon uses the question “what is a woman” to bring forward comparison between the two different genders. As a result, the comparison has showcased the weaker side of the women.
The body of a woman lies on the virtue that it has been tagged to have natural defects, and thus the issues have been made to pronounce a woman to be more of an imperfect man and, at the same time, and incidental being. In a nutshell, the use of the question has been incorporated to question the existence of women and the benefits they bring to men. The existence of women in this case has been in question as they have always been seen inferior and at the same time weak. It was made to look like humanity was male, and women were more of objects that came into existence and have caused problems for men. However, the question comes in handy to highlight the differences between them and, at the same time, showcase the importance of women regardless of being seen as an object by men at the same time questioning the issue of femininity.
Warm becomes an identifier of women when it comes to caring for the incoming generation. It is important to remember that women have been seen as reproducers who cannot match the men who have been given cultural superiority in society. The child’s life beginning with birth states that the woman is responsible for nursing the child to adulthood. It is assumed that the upbringing of a male child is different from that of a female counterpart. The reason is that the female child is bound to follow the line of nurturing their children in the future, thus justifying the use of the term a woman being an identifier. For instance, a boy of age 3 to 5 is regarded as a little man who is bound to have power over the female counterparts in the future, and at the same time, a girl is subjected to the feminine nature that belittles her and at the same time places shame on them.
Placing shame on them means they have to submit to men all their lives, and at the same time, they are blamed for all misfortunes that befall society and thus the justification of using warm as identification of the woman. It is accurate to state, that the term warm has been used to majorly illuminate the relationship between the child and the mother from childhood and on the other hand, it is used to subject women to the misfortunes that take place in society and the effect that befalls the women are never spoken about as their male counterparts do not value them. In summary, the use of the word warm showcases different approaches that link women to safety of other and the overall well-being and thus a negative approach protecting women against cultural insensitive practices.
The term “the subject the absolute” has been used to add to the introduction of the woman, who has been termed as the inessential when weighed against the essential aspects of the life of a major society. A man has been referred to as the subject and, at the same, the absolute and thus referring to the woman as the other. In this case, Beauvoir uses eth term “the subject the absolute” to showcase transcendence and immanence. Yet, the men have been privileged to have been given cultural superiority through different projects that women are not allowed to participate in society. The issues has subjected women to oppression and different unfair practices that have come along with the issue men being referred to as the superior being and thus termed as absolute.
Being the subjects and absolute means that the women have no place to make any decisions pertaining to issues of society. Thus they are subjected to a repetitive role of uncreative life of immanence. Their counterpart men have ambiguous room for interplay between transcendence and immanence, which gives them the power to showcase their creativity and at the same time exercise unequal relationships, attitudes, and presupposition aspects in the society that is geared towards the maintaining of power and at the same time cultivate the social power. In a nutshell, the term “the subject of the absolute” addresses the plight of men to women while showcasing different strengths that men have to rule over their female counterparts.
Beauvoir uses the term “the category of the other is as primordial as consciousness itself” to express duality. For instance, she looks into primitive society and the use of the ancient mythologies to express duality and, at the same time, illuminate the aspect of others and individuals. However, duality was not originally used in the division of sexes, but it was used based on the dependence on empirical facts. Beauvoir uses the example of the work of Granet on the Chinese and the impact on the Indies and Rome. On the other hand, the feminine approach was more involved in pairs like God and Lucifer. Additionally, “the category of the other is as primordial as consciousness itself” is used to illuminate the personal thought of an individual regardless of sex or sexual orientation.
Sexual orientation, in this case, cuts across both ways whereby there is the issue of duality whereby the issue of self and other is incorporated. This means that personal views matter when it comes to viewing others as well. Therefore, the issue revolves around personal view and later the transition to other factors and how the opposite sex is fairing. In summary, Beauvoir uses the phrase “The category of the Other is as primordial as consciousness itself” to shed light on the issues that have not been addressed in society, such as primitive behavior and other old methodologies that have been used to express duality and how each individual perceives the other and thus pushing for the elimination of baseless conclusion on specific sex and gearing towards the application of empirical facts to come up with better solutions to an issue at hand.
Beauvoir uses the term “the others” to refer to women. She argues that a man is considered the default in society, thus referring to women as others. The reason women are referred to as “the others” s that the relationship brought forward argues that women have the same role as insects and other species as their only work is to reproduce and be subjective to the world of men. The terms place them in an inferior position, making them look more like objects to the male gender and more like reproductive enslaved people. Additionally, according to Beauvoir, the term has been used to show power.
At the same time, it positions individuals in areas they want to be in, thus negatively affecting women and lowering their rights in a male-dominated community. Similarly, the term is more of less privileges to women, and thus in most cases, women end up being confined in a place and a situation due to the mare issue of sex and thus directly links the issue to slavery. Finally, Beauvoir justifies the use of the term “the other” to state that it is pointless to try and weigh between the superiority and inferiority of women as it is imminent that they are the less fortunate in society and thus they are subject to run under men’s rule. Therefore, the term has been categorically used to devalue women against men’s superiority in society. Therefore, leaving them to be more of objects and at the same time showcasing the superiority of men in all aspects of life in terms of dominance and the society at large.
Reference
Beauvoir, S. D. (2017). “Introduction” to The second sex. Everyman’s Library