“On ne naît pas femme, on le devient”: You are not a woman, you become a woman.
That is one of the best-known quotes from De Tweede Sex, the 800-page book with which Simone de Beauvoir started the second wave of feminism in 1948. The words characterize the problem that plagued and still plagues women: it is not anatomical features, but socially imposed rules that make someone a “woman”.
Fortunately, she also had a solution. You can choose to live differently. You are already free in your relationship to the world around you – it just takes courage to behave accordingly.
In her long-standing romantic relationship with the French writer and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, she set an example: the two turned against marriage and allowed each other sexual freedom with others. Although they envied and hurt each other, they remained related in love and in the adherence to existentialism, until death.
De Beauvoir died in 1986. But we are still discussing the role of women in the public domain and the conditions for a free and authentic existence. How can Simone de Beauvoir still help us with these questions today? And what exactly is her vision dated to? Michel Krielaars discusses it with book editor Rosan Hollak and writer and philosopher Jannah Loontjens.
This is the sixth installment in a series of books that changed the world.
- Presentation:
- Michel Krielaars
- Guests:
- Rosan Hollak & Jannah Loontjens
- Editing & Editing:
- Jeanne Gerken
- Photo:
- AP