Beauvoir’s rebellion against bourgeois femininity shaped her lifelong dedication to freedom

Evidence

For Simone de Beauvoir, independence had come only after a battle. Born in Paris on 9 January 1908, she grew up mostly in the city, but in a social environment that felt provincial, since it hedged her around with standard notions of femininity and gentility. Her mother, Françoise de Beauvoir, enforced these principles; her father was more relaxed. Simone’s rebellion started in childhood, became more intense in her teens, and still seemed to be going in adulthood. Her lifelong dedication to work, her love of travelling, her decision not to have children, and her unconventional choice of partner all spoke of total dedication to freedom. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 365

Categorization

• XREF: The autobiography titles mentioned here echo themes in Berlant and de Beauvoir herself; also parallels the bourgeois-rebellion arc found in Naqvi’s Home Boy. — connects to: Beauvoir founded her ethics on willing effective freedom for all others — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre: The Riddle of…, 479; Sartre and Beauvoir deliberately lived their philosophy of freedom in their relationship — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 50

Broader Connections

• Beauvoir founded her ethics on willing effective freedom for all others #expands (0.75) — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 479
• Sartre and Beauvoir deliberately lived their philosophy of freedom in their relationship #exemplifies (0.72) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 50