The Other’s gaze imposes unchosen determinations on my being

Evidence

Nevertheless the Other’s existence brings a factual limit to my freedom. This is because of the fact that by means of the upsurge of the Other there appear certain determinations which I am without having chosen them. Here I am—Jew, or Aryan, handsome or ugly, one-armed, etc. All this I am for the Other with no hope of apprehending this meaning which I have outside and, still more important, with no hope of changing it. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1229

Categorization

• XREF: Directly sets up Beauvoir’s analysis of how gender and situation are assigned from without — the reader’s stated purpose for this book. — connects to: The Other’s look displaces my world’s center and objectifies me. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 92; The Other’s inner experiences are constitutively inaccessible to my perception yet organize my field; Being seen enslaves me to a freedom that is not my own — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 741 (+18 more)
• DEFINE: Introduces the being-for-others dimension where the self exists as a suffered, unchosen given.

Broader Connections

• Identity gets constituted when the Other’s gaze names it #expands (0.85) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 207