Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (Penguin Modern Classics)

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Papa used to say with pride: 'Simone has a man's brain; she thinks like a man; she is a man.' And yet everyone treated me like a girl. Jacques and his friends read real books and were abreast of all current problems; they lived out in the open; I was confined to the nursery. But I did not give up all hope. I had confidence in my future. Women, by the exercise of talent or knowledge, had carved out a place for themselves in the universe of men. But I felt impatient of the delays I had to endure. Whenever I happened to pass by the Collège Stanislas my heart would sink; I tried to imagine the mystery that was being celebrated behind those walls, in a classroom full of boys, and I would feel like an outcast. Simone de Beauvoir’s friendships, early lovers, teachers, and mentors come to life in this vivid portrait of a fascinating and brilliant woman. It begins like this:

Despite her contributions to the feminist movement, especially the French women's liberation movement, and her beliefs in women's economic independence and equal education, Beauvoir was initially reluctant to call herself a feminist. [18] However, after observing the resurgence of the feminist movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Beauvoir stated she no longer believed a socialist revolution to be enough to bring about women's liberation. She publicly declared herself a feminist in 1972 in an interview with Le Nouvel Observateur. [78] Poirier, Agnès (25 May 2019). "Les Temps Modernes: Paris mourns passing of the intellectual left's bible". The Observer . Retrieved 8 April 2022. Paris: sur les traces de Simone de Beauvoir"[Paris: On the trail of Simone de Beauvoir]. en-vols.com (in French). 22 November 2022 . Retrieved 31 July 2023.

Ward, Julie K. (November 1999). "Reciprocity and Friendship in Beauvoir's Thought". Hypatia. 14 (4): 36–49. doi: 10.1111/j.1527-2001.1999.tb01251.x. S2CID 146561354. Beauvoir wrote novels, essays, biographies, autobiographies, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and social issues. She was best known for her "trailblazing work in feminist philosophy", [8] The Second Sex (1949), a detailed analysis of women's oppression and a foundational tract of contemporary feminism. She was also known for her novels, the most famous of which were She Came to Stay (1943) and The Mandarins (1954). Her most enduring contribution to literature is her memoirs, notably the first volume, Mémoires d'une jeune fille rangée [9] (1958), which has warmth and descriptive power. [10] She was also a highly awarded woman, some of the most notable prizes being the 1954 Prix Goncourt, the 1975 Jerusalem Prize, and the 1978 Austrian State Prize for European Literature. Her life was not without controversy: she briefly lost her teaching job after being accused of sexually abusing some of her students. She and her long-time lover, Jean-Paul Sartre, along with numerous other French intellectuals, campaigned for the release of people convicted of child sex offenses and signed a petition which advocated the abolition of age of consent laws in France. [11] Personal life [ edit ] Early years [ edit ] This correspondence, let's talk about it, revolves around an aspect of the upper bourgeoisie forgotten today: marriages arranged around dowries and the respectability of families. Young girls suffering from thwarted and impossible loves, boys encouraged to get their hands on low-income young women before entering into marriage. In the 1920s, however relatively independent, passing aggregation, already a teacher, Simone still asked her parents permission to go to the theatre. Losing her virginity before marriage is unthinkable, and a girl still studying at 20 wastes her time. Who will want her?

She Came to Stay was followed by many others, including The Blood of Others, which explores the nature of individual responsibility, telling a love story between two young French students participating in the Resistance in World War II. [53] Existentialist ethics [ edit ] Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre in Beijing, 1955Woodward, Kathleen (1993). "Simone de Beauvoir: Prospects for the Future of Older Women". Generations. 17 (2): 23. The Age(s) of Consent: Gay Activism and the Sexuality of Minors in France and Quebec (1970-1980)" . Retrieved 29 July 2023. Appignanesi, Lisa (10 June 2005). "Our relationship was the greatest achievement of my life". The Guardian. London. This first volume of de Beauvoir's autobiography is a vivid account of growing up female within the confines of a respectable bourgeois family in the early years of the 20th century. Simone's rebellion against a constricting faith and family, the psychological acumen de Beauvoir brings to her portrait of a girl who loves life and books and eventually men, makes this a classic in the genre. 5. The Prime of Life by Simone de Beauvoir

Madeleine Gobeil (Spring–Summer 1965). "Simone de Beauvoir, The Art of Fiction No. 35". Paris Review. Spring-Summer 1965 (34). Her 1970 long essay La Vieillesse ( The Coming of Age) is a rare instance of an intellectual meditation on the decline and solitude all humans experience if they do not die before about the age of 60. [55]

A 1959 review of Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter

McCann, Carole Ruth; Kim, Seung-Kyung, eds. (2003). "25 One Is Not Born a Woman". Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives. Psychology Press. p.249. ISBN 978-0-415-93153-3. OCLC 465003710. As individuals as well we question 'woman', which for us, as for Simone de Beauvoir, is only a myth. She said: 'One is not born, but becomes a woman.' a b Moi, Toril "While We Wait: The English Translation of 'The Second Sex'" in Signs 27(4) (Summer, 2002), pp. 1005–35. Sex, Society, and the Female Dilemma: A Dialogue between Simone de Beauvoir and Betty Friedan". Saturday Review. 14 June 1975. p.16. as quoted in Fallaize (2007), p. 9.