The Second Sex: The Classic Manifesto of the Liberated Woman (Vintage Books, No. 227)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0394712277 ISBN 13: 9780394712277

Publisher: Vintage, 1974

Simone de Beauvoir wrote this controversial work of self-discovery to confront the question, "What is a woman?"

Review:

In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir posed questions many men, and women, had yet to ponder when the book was released in 1953. "One wonders if women still exist, if they will always exist, whether or not it is desirable that they should ...," she says in this comprehensive treatise on women. She weaves together history, philosophy, economics, biology, and a host of other disciplines to show women's place in the world and to postulate on the power of sexuality. This is a powerful piece of writing in a time before "feminism" was even a phrase, much less a movement.

From the Inside Flap:

Introduction by Margaret Crosland; Translation by H. M. Parshley