The Accomplishments of Simone de Beauvoir
Since the dawn of civilization, women have been considered as inferior beings in almost all societies. Although women consist of more than half the population of humankind, since time immemorial, they have not enjoyed the same privileges as those of men. However female oppression has since reduced due to women such as Simone de Beauvoir. De Beauvoir fought for the rights of women whereby she brought forth the issues of women suffrage and property rights. Also, De Beauvoir struggled to find the place of a woman in sexuality, in the workplace and family matters by allowing the woman to have reproductive rights. This paper is going to discuss what Simone de Beauvoir hoped to achieve for women and how much of that has been accomplished at present as well as what remains to be done.
Simone de Beauvoir started her fight against female oppression when she wrote the book ‘The Second Sex.’ In her book, De Beauvoir gives a historical account of how women are disadvantaged in society and provide an alternative way of treating and viewing women. The book compares the mythological beliefs about women to the reality of how women are treated. It is through ‘The Second Sex’ book that De Beauvoir put across what she hoped to achieve for women in her feminism conquest.
De Beauvoir hoped to prove that there were no biological conditions that made people treat each other in a specific manner. Therefore, biology did not condition men to treat women as weak creatures. One of the most famous lines in her book states that “one is not born, but becomes a woman.” As such, biology does not accord one a place in society; instead, the community is what determines whether one belongs to the superior or inferior gender. De Beauvoir hoped to prove that it is society, specifically the male gender, which dictated the place of the woman. When one is born a woman, society expects her to adopt female behaviors since the standards have already been set. As such, it was society, rather than biology that dictated the position and role of a woman.
Furthermore, De Beauvoir wanted to show that limiting women restrained the development of society. Women got limited in every role they played in the community. Due to their inferiority complex, women adapted to coping mechanisms that made them appear weaker. However, when the same inferior women are allowed to contribute to the growth of society, they achieve more than is expected of them. Another famous line of the ‘The Second Sex’ states that, “humanity is male; man defines women, not in herself, but with himself.” This line implied that men measured the ability of women by comparing the achievements of women to those of men. Considering that women were limited in all the roles they played, their accomplishments did not speak much. Therefore, De Beauvoir wanted to prove that women are defined by society and if given a chance, they can achieve greater things and contribute to the growth of the community.
Compared to earlier, female oppression has reduced. The achievement is attributed to feminists such as Simone De Beauvoir. Strict gender roles that were there in the past have since diluted. It is not surprising to find a woman in a top managerial position, a position previously dominated by men. Also, women get to choose the person they become, rather than society dictating for them. Prior, when one was born a woman, there are specific roles one was expected to take up as dictated by society. However, at present, women are at liberty to even take up roles that were dominated by men.
Furthermore, women are taking more political positions as opposed to before when those positions were strictly for the male. Earlier, women did not have a say in political issues as they were considered inferior. At present, some women have managed to get political positions by a vote of the majority. Therefore, some of the things that Simone de Beauvoir hoped to achieve for women have been accomplished. De Beauvoir hoped that women get a chance to exploit their potential rather than remained cuffed to the expectations of a society ruled by men. At present, women are given opportunities to reach their potential without restriction from the community.
However, it is as much as the hopes of De Beauvoir have gotten accomplished; much more could be done to achieve complete gender equity. For instance, women still shoulder more of the household burden. At present, more women have entered the corporate world and at the same time faced with the task of fulfilling household duties. Therefore, total equity is yet to get achieved. To achieve gender equity, men should take up more of household duties to help their wives when both of them work equal hours outside the household. Also, women remain underrepresented in government. Although women have taken up political careers, little support gets accorded to them, and as such, they remain underrepresented. To that end, although much of what Simone de Beauvoir hoped to achieve has been accomplished, more can be done to ensure genuine equality in men and women.