The Second Sex

Hello everyone, and welcome back! This week I read the introduction to the book The Second Sex by, Simone de Beauvoir. The introduction alone was good enough to spark an interest for me. It focuses primarily on women as being the “Other” in a world dominated by males. De Beauvoir indicates that throughout history women have always been inferior to men “Now, woman has always been man’s dependent, if not his slave; the two sexes have never shared the world in equality…At the present time, when women are beginning to take part in the affairs of the world, it is still a world that belongs to men.”  There are examples used in all aspects from Christ being a man, to women’s brains being smaller. These issues are brought up to help one understand the argument that has been taking place from day one. It states the since Adam was created first, women are secondary to man, while others argue that Adam was only a mere rough draft, and that God perfected his human species when he created Eve. Now I see why I can never understand women. There has been constant bickering since day one.  De Beauvoir uses the word other when describing how men view women based on the theory that men are constantly oppressing  women and treating them like objects instead of human beings.  As much as I hate to admit it, I can see why this notion is true. There are numerous reasons as well. As I mentioned in last week’s blog, the glass ceiling, can be used as a perfect example. Many times in the work field these acts are present because women are ones with the womb. They are the ones who have to take on the responsibilities of bearing children, as well as trying to remain an asset to their employers. De Beauvoir points out how to men, women are objects of sex. Again, I have the utmost respect for women and I can see how and why this statement is true. As I mentioned in the last blog “culture from above” which are those who have higher social status and power influence this women as sex objects or the “other” on a daily basis. I saw a youtube clip which I believe proves De Beauvoir’s point. It shows how women are always below men… literally. It shows that women are merely objects of sex, for example there is an ad in the clip where a guy is blowing smoke in a girls face and it quotes “Blow it in her face, and she’ll follow you anywhere.”  This clearly shows how society is influenced to believe that women really do come second. The only way for this to come to an end would be if both sides really agree to make changes, and depict women as equal to men. Girls learn at an early age to depend on men. An example of this is the Barbie dolls. The whole point it to dress her up and make her look pretty for Ken. They are influenced to be mere objects to men. Thank you everyone, see you next week!     

p.s, here is the url to the youtube video, it called Mens dominance over women.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heAlhsn4IMo