The Second Sex Vintage Classics

“The Second Sex” is Simone de Beauvoir’s landmark 1949 study of woman’s situation, tracing how biology, history, myth, religion and culture have turned women into “the Other.” Blending philosophy, sociology and memoir, she examines topics from girlhood, sexuality and motherhood to work and old age, arguing that one is not born but rather becomes a woman through social conditioning. In the Vintage Classics edition, translated by Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany‑Chevallier, the book is aimed at readers searching for “feminist philosophy book,” “Simone de Beauvoir classic” and “foundational gender theory.”