The Second Sex (I + II)

Introduction

The subtitle of "The Second Sex I" is "Facts and Myths". Starting from the perspectives of biology, psychoanalysis and historical materialism on women, the author analyzes the reasons why women become "others"; then, through the combing of human history, it deeply reveals the fate of women from primitive society to the present; finally, the book takes five famous writers including Montherlant, Lawrence, Claudel, Breton and Stendhal as examples to analyze the "female myths" created by men and explore the image of women in the eyes of men and the ideas they embody.

The subtitle of The Second Sex II is "Actual Experience". Starting from the philosophical theory of existentialism, it conducts a positive examination of different periods in a woman's life (childhood, adolescence, sexual enlightenment, marriage, motherhood and old age), and at the same time makes judgments and evaluations on the experiences she may encounter in her life (homosexuality, becoming an intellectual, a star, a prostitute or a socialite, etc.), which deeply reveals the situation and nature of women. The author also analyzes the process of the formation of narcissistic women, women in love and devout women and the complex social reasons behind them. Finally, he proposes that the only way for women to be liberated is to become independent women. He also emphasizes that only when the economic status of women changes and brings spiritual, social, cultural and other consequences, and only when women's awareness of themselves changes fundamentally, can gender equality be truly achieved.