Assimilating woman to mere nature is a prejudice, not a truth
Evidence
But to say that Woman is Flesh, to say that Flesh is Night and Death, or that she is the splendor of the cosmos, is to leave terrestrial truth behind and spin off into an empty sky. After all, man is also flesh for woman; and woman is other than a carnal object; and for each person and in each experience the flesh is takes on singular significations. It is likewise perfectly true that woman—like man—is a being rooted in nature; she is more enslaved to the species than the male is, her animality is more manifest; but in her as in him, the given is taken on by existence; she also belongs to the human realm. Assimilating her with Nature is simply a prejudice. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 656
Categorization
- DEFINE: Core existentialist-feminist principle: even woman’s greater rootedness in nature is taken on by existence.
- XREF: Directly contradicts biological determinism; echoes Butler’s later denaturalization of sex/gender and the body. — connects to: Woman embodies Nature, whose ambivalence makes her both ally and enemy to man — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 324; Woman is a historical situation, not an immutable essence — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 675; Woman’s traits stem from her situation, not biology — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1740 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- Woman is a historical situation, not an immutable essence
#qualifies(0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 675 - Woman’s traits stem from her situation, not biology
#corroborates(0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1740 - Womanhood is socially constructed, not biologically destined
#corroborates(0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 676 - Biology does not condemn women to inferiority; meaning applied to differences does
#corroborates(0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1978 - Femininity is an artificial, inculcated product rather than a natural instinct
#corroborates(0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1037