Pregnancy symptoms and menopause are interpreted as species-resistance by woman

Evidence

Th e human female resists the intrusion of the species in her body. Beauvoir interprets the various changes in puberty as well as the physiological reactions to pregnancy, such as vomiting, as a way for woman to attempt to resist its becoming a reproductive tool for the species. Th e individual asserts itself against this. Beauvoir further interprets menopause as the freeing of oneself from the shackles of the species. Th e woman is then “delivered from the servitude imposed by her female nature … she is no longer the prey of overwhelming forces; she is herself, she and her body are one” (SS, 31). — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 110

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Female reproductive biology subordinates individual life to species demands — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 97; For women biological reproduction continues long past the sexual act in slow painful service — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 946; Pregnancy symptoms express simultaneous desire to reject and conserve the fetus — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1455 (+1 more)