de Beauvoir, Simone

de Beauvoir, Simone
(1908-86)
A Parisian-born philosopher and novelist who graduated from the élite École Normale Supérieure. She is most celebrated for her two-volume The Second Sex (1949) which has been grossly translated and truncated in its English-language version. This was a wide ranging analysis of the subordination of women, examining biological, historical, and ethnographic aspects. ‘Woman is made not born’, she argued. Literature and belief systems revealed that women were always seen as the ‘other’ to man as subject. Women, she concluded, are seen as nature while man is seen as culture. Such claims rest sometimes on Eurocentric ideological assumptions disguised as universals. Many descriptions of women's existence were in effect vivid details from de Beauvoir's first-hand experience and observations of mid-century Paris and gave authenticity to her text. The book inspired thousands of women readers. She answered a post-war unease, when the question of women's subordination had disappeared. Since the more recent growth of feminist perspectives in many specialisms, there have been few such multi-disciplined studies.
De Beauvoir also wrote novels, her earliest being She Came to Stay (1943). The Mandarins (1954) received the Prix Goncourt. An existentialist philosopher, she explored moral and political dilemmas in essays and plays. There were also autobiographical volumes; for example Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (1958), The Prime of Life (1960), and accounts of both her mother's death (A Very Easy Death, 1964) and that of her long-term companion Jean-Paul Sartre (Adieux, 1981).

Dictionary of sociology. 2013.

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  • Beauvoir, Simone de — (1908 1986)    writer    one of the most important writers of her generation, simone de Beauvoir was born in Paris, where she was to spend most of her life. she was educated at the École Normale Supérieure and at the sorbonne, where she received… …   France. A reference guide from Renaissance to the Present

  • Beauvoir, Simone de — (1908–1986) French feminist philosopher and novelist. Born in Paris, de Beauvoir studied at the Sorbonne, and became famous when she wrote the classic study of women s oppression Le Deuxième Sexe (1949, trs. as The Second Sex, 1953). This is the… …   Philosophy dictionary

  • Beauvoir, Simone (Lucie-Ernestine-Marie-Bertrand) de — (9 ene. 1908, París, Francia–14 abr. 1986, París). Escritora y feminista francesa. Mientras estudiaba en la Sorbona, conoció a Jean Paul Sartre, con quien inició una relación intelectual y romántica de toda la vida. Es conocida principalmente por …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Beauvoir,Simone de — Beau·voir (bō vwärʹ), Simone de. 1908 1986. French writer, existentialist, and feminist whose works include The Second Sex (1949) and The Coming of Age (1970), a study of how different cultures view old age. * * * …   Universalium

  • Beauvoir, Simone (Lucie-Ernestine-Marie-Bertrand) de — born Jan. 9, 1908, Paris, France died April 14, 1986, Paris French writer and feminist. As a student at the Sorbonne, she met Jean Paul Sartre, with whom she formed a lifelong intellectual and romantic bond. She is known primarily for her… …   Universalium

  • Beauvoir, Simone de — ► (1908 86) Escritora francesa. Se dio a conocer con La invitada (1943), en la que planteó el problema de la libertad. Los mandarines (1954), premio Goncourt, recreó el ambiente intelectual de la posguerra. Sus obras autobiográficas Memorias de… …   Enciclopedia Universal

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  • Simone de Beauvoir — Full name Simone de Beauvoir Born 9 January 1908(1908 01 09) Paris, France Died 14 April 1986(1986 04 14) (aged 78) Par …   Wikipedia

  • Simone de beauvoir — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Simone et Beauvoir. Simone de Beauvoir Philosophe occidentale Époque contemporaine …   Wikipédia en Français

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