The famous becoming-woman sentence concerns socially determined woman, not individuals

Evidence

Beauvoir occasionally—but rarely—uses femme without an article to signify woman as determined by society as just described. In such cases, of course, we do the same. The famous sentence, On ne naît pas femme: on le devient, reads, in our translation: “One is not born, but rather becomes, woman.” The original translation by H. M. Parshley read, “One is not born, but rather becomes a woman.” — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 35

Categorization

• DEFINE: Resolves the precise meaning of the most famous Beauvoir sentence — the absence of the article marks social determination at the level of the concept, not the individual.
• XREF: connects to: Womanhood is socially constructed, not biologically destined — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 676; Woman is a historical situation, not an immutable essence — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 675; A real woman is defined by accepting herself as Other, not by biology — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 668 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Woman is a historical situation, not an immutable essence #expands (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 675
• Woman’s traits stem from her situation, not biology #expands (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1740
• Beauvoir argued womanhood is socially constructed, not innate #qualifies (0.85) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 669
• Womanhood is socially constructed, not biologically destined #expands (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 676
• A real woman is defined by accepting herself as Other, not by biology #qualifies (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 668
• Woman’s defining situation is being forced to assume herself as Other #expands (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 64