Observed male-female differences reflect social situation, not fixed essence

Evidence

This tender friend of women—and precisely because he loves them in their truth—does not believe in feminine mystery; there is no essence that defines woman once and for all; the idea of an eternal feminine seems pedantic and ridiculous to him. … The differences that one notices between men and women reflect those of their situation. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 608

Categorization

• DEFINE: Central existentialist-feminist thesis: differences follow from situation, not essence
• XREF: Echoes Sartre’s ‘existence precedes essence’ applied to gender; core framework for the rest of the book — connects to: Fromm read gender roles as socially and economically determined, not essential — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 336; Gender differences are learned developmental outcomes, not natural expressions — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 668; Gendered adolescence routes girls toward inward distress and boys toward outward aggression — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 672 (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Early divergence between boys and girls is socially imposed, not instinctual #corroborates (0.95) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 676
• Male superiority is instilled through adult attitudes, not spontaneously felt #corroborates (0.95) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 681
• The source of gendered conflict is situational dependence, not personal perversity #corroborates (0.93) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1974