Women in the Satre and Beauvoir’s Philosophies Essay

A man's character or validness is not harmed by the fact that he is a man, while a woman already has points against her when making an argument just for the fact that she is a woman.
She also brings up the fact that women are "the other" both to men and to themselves. This means that women are essentially the outcasts of society, and not what society should be focused upon. Women are defined in comparison to men. It is similar to being a stranger (as compared to by Beauvoir in one paragraph). She claims that "He is the subject, he is the AbsoluteShe is the Other" (pg 326) and that we are held back in society and still subjected in society because of the fact that from the beginning of the formation of society, men have never seen women as equal (even in the church many regard men as leaders over women because Adam was created before Eve), and have constantly kept them from gaining power in society in order to keep them in the same social status they are now. Women are considered objects, not people or equals to men. She best states this when she says "Woman has always been man's dependent, if not his slave the two sexes have never shared the world in equality" (pg 328).
Thus humanity is male and man defines woman not in herself but as relative to him she is not regarded as an autonomous being. (pg 326). She does believe women exist but in a different degree than man. She is defined and differentiated with reference to man and not he with reference to her.... She is the subject, he is the Absolute she is the Other (pg 326). Thus humanity is male and man defines woman not in herself but as relative to him (pg 326) Women exist but only as part of man. Beauvoir is stating that although women do exist in that as part of man, a woman doesnt have a voice of her own. Women are not in the wrong when they decline to accept the rules the laid down for them, since the men make these rules without consulting them. (pg 329) How can women be held accountable for laws that affect them without a say in how and why the laws are unjust? I think this relates also to Satre In choosing for myself, I choose man. (pg 320) He isnt choosing for all mankind but for the male benefit. Now I wish there was more time to cross check Satre and Beauvoir in how Satre sees man as defining the moral theory and how Beauvoir sees how this affects the existence of women. Woman is determined not by hormones or by mysterious instincts, but by the manner in which her body and her relation to the world are modified through the action of others than herself. (pg 336) Still brings me back to in choosing myself, I choose for man. (pg 320)