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Danielle Hernandez
Prof. Berg
WGS 256
9/26/14
Simon de Beauvoir and Alice Walker
Simon de Beauvoirs influential 1949 exploration of inequality, The Second Sex, offers
scholars and theorists of myriad backgrounds a lens through which to examine the world. Du
Beauvoirs theory on the inequality of the sexes can be explored through four main issues. The
first of which is the need to dismantle the concept of the Other (De Beauvoir xvi). - a term that
has taken an entirely new meaning since this publication. The second is that woman has been
tricked and deluded into complacency and even joy in her role as subject (De Beauvoir xxviii).
The third is the problem of the inability of man- the oppressor- to entertain the thought of
lowering himself from a place of power (De Beauvoir 675). The fourth is that parity of the
sexes would ultimately benefit men just as much as women (De Beauvoir 678).
Woman is not an entity in and of itself, but only exists as she is compared to man.
Essentially, she is the Other- not the woman but the unman. De Beauvoir sees this Othering
relationship as a problem of power and of identity. He is the Subject, he is the Absolute- she is
the Other. Man as the primary holds the power and authority of woman- the secondary. With
this power dynamic set up by the Othering, woman faces social, economic, political, sexual, and
even scientific disadvantage. Woman is mentally weak and unable to form opinions. She is
physically weak and unable to support herself with meaningful employment. She is sexually

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weak- unable to facilitate sex independently. She is scientifically weak; her psychology is
troublesome and from menarche on is the victim of unreasonable hormones and lunar cycles. She
becomes dependent upon men in these aspects of her life in a tragic symbiosis (De Beauvoir xx).
Her identity is lost as she is neither an individual nor a collective. But women are not a
minoritythey have no past, no history, no religion of their own (De Beauvoir xviii-xix). They
cannot define themselves as anything before their debilitating sex. De Beauvoir observes that if a
woman desires to define [herself], [she] must first say: I am woman; on this truth must be
based all further discussion (De Beauvoir xv).
Man naturally fears equality of the sexes because he cowers at the thought of giving up
some of his male privilege, power, and entitlement, in an attempt to level himself with woman as
she also rises up. De Beauvoir speaks of men and their attempt to take a wife who is the ideal of
femininity; however, this could also be used as a metaphor for power- Men stretch forth avid
hands toward the marvel, but when they grasp it it is gone; the wife, the mistress... (De
Beauvoir 687). Just as the ideal Other woman never truly existed for men to take, neither did
their power, their privilege, and their entitlement to all aspects of society. For men to hold
obstinately to their status as demigod and ruler is futile and only stirs the waters of battle. Even
when man does allow women a longer leash, de Beauvoir sees it as with bad spirit. She argues
that the attitude of the males creates a new conflict: it is with a bad grace that the man lets her
go and that she thus replies to his lack of confidence in her by assuming an aggressive
attitude (De Beauvoir 675).
Man, de Beauvoir finally argues, would be an advantage to support the equality of the
sexes. It is more of a chore for man to keep woman subordinate than to let them share in the
social, economic, political, and other privileges only enjoyed by men. For him to have to

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continually uphold the image of the superior sex he is himself the slave of his double: what an
effort to build up an image in which he is always in danger (De Beauvoir 677). The exhaustion,
she proposes, will end when the men stop struggling to let go.
These theories on sex can be transmuted and applied to other issues of inequality, as well.
Alice Walkers poignant depiction of racial struggles in the novel Meridian can be analyzed
using the lens of de Beauvoirs The Second Sex. The act of Othering was not just done to
women, but to the entire Black community in segregated America. Walkers novel follows
Meridian from childhood on as she grows up around the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement and
eventually becomes an active member in it. She acts as the rock of stability which her friends,
family, and acquaintances rely upon during this tumultuous period. While in college, she
becomes very active in sometimes violent protests. After battling with her fellow Black peers
against hoses, tear gas, and police brutality, her mother expresses disapproval of her attempt to
thwart the Otherness. God separated the sheeps from the goats and the black folks from the
white, scolded her mother (Walker 83). This older generations attempt to hold on to the Other
can be examined by what Simon de Beauvoir says of sex. She cheerfully believes these lies
because they invite her to follow the easy slope, comments de Beauvoir regarding women who
applaud or are at least complacent toward the natural order of the sex hierarchy (De Beauvoir
679). However, de Beauvoir regards this as a trap set up by men- the dominant group- who
convince women that they actually want to be the Other, want to be inferior, and are naturally
separated from the rest (De Beauvoir 678). Alice Walker makes it apparent in this scene between
Meridian and her mother, that white people have, in a similar fashion, tricked black people into
contentment with their inferior social, political, and economic status with little room for mobility.

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The militant activism advocated for by the black community in Meridian can also be
analyzed through de Beauvoirs theory. De Beauvoir posits that the longer men struggle to let
women have equality, the more enraged women will become and the harder they will fight
against their shackles (De Beauvoir 675). Alice Walker depicts a very haunting exchange
between a young Meridian and her peers in which they attempt to compel Meridian to say that
she would kill for the cause. They needed her to kill. To say she would kill. She thought perhaps
she could do it. Perhaps (Walker 18). When the black community has dealt with a continual
pushing back by the white community, they become more and more impassioned in their
equality. Just like Chinese handcuffs, the harder the whites pull apart the races, the stronger the
force to bring them together becomes.
Alice Walker primarily paints a portrait of racism; however, if one looks closely, sexism
can be seen in the background, as well. It is more difficult to find the examples of sexism clearly
in Meridian and de Beauvoir, when she writes about the identity of the Other, clarified why this
is so. She says that women are not a minority, like the American Negroes or the Jews and that
these minorities at least have solidarity in their shared culture. However, women are segregated
within their own group (De Beauvoir xviii). In Meridian we see the very different struggles as
women between Meridian and Lynn, for example. Lynn has to contend with her being white (I
cant go back home. I dont even have a home. I wouldnt go back if I could. I know white folks
are evil and fucked up, I know theyre doomed. But where does that leave me?) (Walker 192)
and she has to deal with being a woman. She faces very unique problems such as her rape by a
black man which uses a type of violence against women as a tool of racial war. (Walker 171-176)
The other white woman discussed in the novel, Margaret, struggled as a woman, but not
necessarily with her race. She was objectified and commoditized simply as a mans personal

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taste in pussy. (Walker 145) Both of these womens issues are also different from the struggles
faced by black women like Meridian, though, who is both challenged by her being a woman but
also by her being in the black minority. I cant listen to this, says Meridian when Lynn looks to
her to empathize with her problems (Walker 164). Each of these women all struggle as women,
but do not struggle together and do not necessarily have the empathy for each other necessary to
come together into a movement.
Although Simon de Beauvoirs The Second Sex is over a half a century old, it can still be
relevant to literature analysis today. The examination of some themes from Meridian using de
Beauvoirs theories holds as testament to the flexibility and value of The Second Sex.
Works Cited
de Beauvoir, Simon. The Second Sex. 17th ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1970. Print.
Walker, Alice. Meridian. New York : Harcourt Inc., 2003. Print.

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