Defying Society In The Second Sex By Simone De Beauvoir

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Janeen Uy January 8, 2013
Ph 102 VV Dr. Tan
Defying Society

Our sexuality, whether male or female, comes as an essential good that is a part of our very being and guides us on how we must act accordingly. Being male or female makes us sexually different, which is why men are assumed to be physically stronger whereas women are claimed to be able to handle simultaneous complexities of life (Borja, 2013). However, this does not imply that there is a more superior gender and an inferior one. Today we live in a patriarchal ruled society where women have to constantly strive and fight for their place in society. Women need to prove their competence as to not be regarded as a weakling or merely as the other, while on the other hand, men do not really need to put much effort and attention to these issues because they are already considered as the one and are on the top of the social pyramid.
In Simone De Beauvoir’s book, The Second Sex, the term the other is used in reference to women. Women are regarded as the inessential and the dependent sex who needs the one in order to exist (De Beauvoir, 1989). The one is referred to as man who is the norm that we need to conform to or else we will be marginalized if we fail to do so. This ideal norm has been present in society since the very beginning of time. Maybe it is because man was created first before woman in the creation story of Genesis and how the religion, Christianity, has a man as their Savior. This is why women are regarded as the weak ones as they are incapable to comply with the norm and are alienated in society. In addition, those men who fail to prove their manliness and do not meet the standards of what it means to be a man are often referred ...

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...fill their dreams and aspirations in life.
There is no such thing as a less superior race or the other because even though we are created differently as man and woman, we are still created equally, of which we deserve to be given equal opportunities in order to attain our full competence as human beings. In time, with the growing feminist movements striving for gender equality, women will no longer be seen and treated as the weaker gender and being a man will no longer be the norm anymore. Society will learn to accept how women are created with their own set of capabilities and their contributions as both men and women are needed in society because characteristics that are lacking in men are said to be present in women and vice a versa. We need one another as we are created for a purpose to complement one another and to continue on improving society for the better.

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