Season 2 of the She Speaks Volumes podcast begins with an excerpt of The Second Sex by philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. The Second Sex is a harbinger of what we have come to call Second Wave Feminism. The book examines the question ‘What is woman?’ from an existential-feminist perspective.

But, what does that mean? The Oxford English defines existentialism as ‘a philosophical movement or approach which focuses on the analysis of human existence and on individual human beings as agents freely determining by their choices what they will become. Also sometimes applied to other philosophies which lay particular stress on existence as distinct from essence.1’ But I prefer this simpler explanation from wikipedia’s entry on Absurdism: ‘Existentialists have generally advocated the individual’s construction of their own meaning in life as well as the free will of the individual.2’ Feminism, as defined by the Oxford English is defined as 1. Feminine quality or character; femininity. (Now rare) 3. Now rare…feminism, has generally come to mean the struggle for equality.

Isn’t then existential feminism a bit redundant? Could we not just look at women through the lens of existentialism? Does it need to be specifically feminist? Are women not human beings? Yes. Yes, it does need to be contextualized as feminist. It isn’t possible to understand the experience of being a woman without using a feminist lens, because existentialism, as in the rest of academia, politics, the economy, media, the arts, and culture was designed by and for men, often with the specific purpose of excluding women. Woman will always be an interloper in patriarchal society, the outsider. It is also why feminism is more commonly seen as the struggle of women for equality, because that is, typically the situation women find themselves in.

Consequently, to be a woman, to be female, is to be ‘the other’; the original and the authentic is masculine, it is the default. Woman is seen within this paradigm as a modification of man. It is why we have doctors and female doctors, artists and female artists, leaders and female leaders. As if a woman achieving any thing beyond beautiful, or mother, is a deviation of her kind. Even today when women are leaders in all facets of society, she is still operating in his territory, by his rules, with his consent.

If it is true that women have always been subject to masculine thinking, is it even possible for us to have an authentic feminine perspective? Could we define a distinctly feminine meaning to our individual lives and to the collective experience of women? The answer to that might be yes, but only if we are conscious of our subjugation in the past and in the present.

The Second Sex examines the condition of woman within the parameters of the patriarchal society in which we all live. The book is split in to two volumes. The first volume explore the collective history of women, the biological data, and the myths and superstitions that have come to define the feminine. The second volume looks at the lived experience and transitions of a woman from birth to death.

If existentialism is the individuals search for meaning, and their free will, existential feminism then means a women’s search for meaning and expression of free-will in a world where they have been, and are subjected to patriarchal rule.

The Second Sex is available at your local bookshop or library.

If you have anything to add, or disagree with anything I have said, can offer clarification or have any comments please feel free to comment here or in the She Speaks Volumes Facebook group.

from OED Third Edition, December 2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absurdism
OED Third Edition, March 2012