Sartre’s asexual for-itself is covertly masculine in its transcendence
Evidence
However, if it is true, as Sartre seems to want it sometimes, that the for-itself is embodied, then the for-itself must be sexual. He affi rms as much when discussing the fundamental sexuality of the human being but fails to carry the point to its conclusion. Furthermore, the asexuality of the for-itself seems merely artifi cial, since the picture he draws is that of a for-itself that is active, transcending— in a word, male. Th e female human being that is a gaping hole secreting slimy mucus and wanting to be fi lled by male fl esh and mucus bears no trace of transcendence and thus can hardly be imagined to be a free consciousness projecting itself. — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 107
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to Beauvoir’s Second Sex critique and Merleau-Ponty’s body-subject phenomenology, and the larger feminist phenomenology tradition. — connects to: Sartre’s philosophy is sexist despite its anti-essentialist framework — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre: The Riddle of…, 88; Sartre exemplifies the Lacanian masculine subject repressing attachment to the maternal body — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre: The Riddle of…, 131; Sartre’s concept of the slimy encodes a gendered fear of feminine appropriation — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre: The Riddle of…, 133 (+2 more)
- DEFINE: Explains how Sartre’s for-itself/in-itself distinction encodes gendered assumptions despite claiming universality.
Broader Connections
- Male sexuality integrates with individual transcendence while female sexuality does not
#corroborates(0.88) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 97 - Sartre exemplifies the Lacanian masculine subject repressing attachment to the maternal body
#corroborates(0.85) — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 131 - Sartre’s concept of the slimy encodes a gendered fear of feminine appropriation
#expands(0.82) — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 133