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The Second Sex

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The Second Sex

By: Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
Narrated by: Ellen Archer, Judith Thurman
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About this listen

Unabridged and available on audio for the first time

Simone de Beauvoir’s essential masterwork is a powerful analysis of the Western notion of "woman", and a revolutionary exploration of inequality and otherness. This unabridged edition of the text reinstates significant portions of the original French text that were cut in the first English translation, and is now available on audio for the very first time. Vital and groundbreaking, Beauvoir’s pioneering and impressive text remains as pertinent today as when it was first published, and will continue to provoke and inspire generations of men and women to come.

©2014 Simone De Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier (P)2019 Random House Audio
Gender Studies

Critic Reviews

"[A] masterpiece.... Restores essential passages that have been missing for 60 years." (The Times)

"Groundbreaking.... A fresh, much expanded, more intelligible book which repays re-reading by adherents of the old version, and cries out for attention from young women who have not been exposed to this most powerful of feminist thinkers. The Second Sex [is] the foundation text of second-wave feminism. It is probably the most important and influential philosophical treatise of the 20th century." (The Irish Times)

"The Second Sex is an inquiry into a subject with profound implications for the entire human race, and its ideas are as fresh and inspiring as they were when [Beauvoir] began work.... Now Beauvoir’s great work is available in a full English translation for the first time.... It is a fine piece of work, a lucid translation." (The Independent)

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A book for all seasons

Is it not nice to know that generally nothing has changed since this book was first published 1949,
to me via my equal opportunity upbringing… the second sex is a state of mind.
As long as the population is controlled by women with access God’s herbal pharmacy and or legal abortion,
man is an appendage be it a millstone, handbag or coat of armour, choose wisely.
Thoroughly enjoyable listen, thank you Simone de Beauvoir, much appreciated :-)

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still striking young feminists in 2024

I don't think I can sum it up better than that. This book articulated the womans experience so eloquently and robustly that the next time a republican asks "define woman then" with a smug look on their face, I might turn to them and say ",read the book"

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