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1、TheSecondSexbySimonedeBeauvoir(1949)IntroductionWomanasOtherFORalongtimeIhavehesitatedtowriteabookonwoman.Thesubjectisirritating,especiallytowomen;anditisnotnew.Enoughinkhasbeenspilledinquarrellingoverfeminism,andperhapsweshouldsaynomoreaboutit.Itisstilltalkeda
2、bout,however,forthevoluminousnonsenseutteredduringthelastcenturyseemstohavedonelittletoilluminatetheproblem.Afterall,isthereaproblem?Andifso,whatisit?Aretherewomen,really?Mostassuredlythetheoryoftheeternalfemininestillhasitsadherentswhowillwhisperinyourear:'Eve
3、ninRussiawomenstillarewomen';andothereruditepersons-sometimestheverysame-saywithasigh:'Womanislosingherway,womanislost.'Onewondersifwomenstillexist,iftheywillalwaysexist,whetherornotitisdesirablethattheyshould,whatplacetheyoccupyinthisworld,whattheirplaceshould
4、be.'Whathasbecomeofwomen?'wasaskedrecentlyinanephemeralmagazine.Butfirstwemustask:whatisawoman?'Totamulierinutero',saysone,'womanisawomb'.Butinspeakingofcertainwomen,connoisseursdeclarethattheyarenotwomen,althoughtheyareequippedwithauterusliketherest.Allagreein
5、recognisingthefactthatfemalesexistinthehumanspecies;todayasalwaystheymakeupaboutonehalfofhumanity.Andyetwearetoldthatfemininityisindanger;weareexhortedtobewomen,remainwomen,becomewomen.Itwouldappear,then,thateveryfemalehumanbeingisnotnecessarilyawoman;tobesocon
6、sideredshemustshareinthatmysteriousandthreatenedrealityknownasfemininity.Isthisattributesomethingsecretedbytheovaries?OrisitaPlatonicessence,aproductofthephilosophicimagination?Isarustlingpetticoatenoughtobringitdowntoearth?Althoughsomewomentryzealouslytoincarn
7、atethisessence,itishardlypatentable.Itisfrequentlydescribedinvagueanddazzlingtermsthatseemtohavebeenborrowedfromthevocabularyoftheseers,andindeedinthetimesofStThomasitwasconsideredanessenceascertainlydefinedasthesomniferousvirtueofthepoppyButconceptualismhaslos
8、tground.Thebiologicalandsocialsciencesnolongeradmittheexistenceofunchangeablyfixedentitiesthatdeterminegivencharacteristics,suchasthoseascribedtowoman,theJew,ortheNegro.Scie
