The Second Sex

"One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman" - Simone de Beauvoir

In this groundbreaking work of feminism Simone de Beauvoir examines the limits of female freedom and explodes our deeply ingrained beliefs about femininity.

Liberation, she argues, entails challenging traditional perceptions of the social relationship between the sexes and, crucially, in achieving economic independence.

Drawing on sociology, anthropology and biology, The Second Sex is as important and relevant today as when it was first published in 1949.

'Everyone who cares about freedom and justice for women should read The Second Sex' - Guardian

MEDIA REVIEWS

A masterpiece - Vogue

Discovering The Second Sex was like an explosion in my skull, shattering illusions bred in a conventional fifties childhood...Re-reading the book now I realise how much of it is still entirely relevant, and that (despite advances) women are as much in need of liberation as ever - Bel Mooney

De Beauvoir was not just a genius as a theorist. She dared to live it. Challenging conventional marriage and sexual practice, she used her own experience to explore the emotional costs of jealousy, attachment, monogamy, bohemianism, sexuality, of love - Susie Orbach

A fine piece of work, a lucid translation - Independent

A fresh, much expanded, more intelligible book which repays re-reading by adherents of the old version, and cries out for attention from young women who have not been exposed to this most powerful of feminist thinkers - Irish Times