• Log In

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

A Philosophy Podcast and Philosophy Blog

Subscribe on Android Spotify Google Podcasts audible patreon
  • Home
  • Podcast
    • PEL Network Episodes
    • Publicly Available PEL Episodes
    • Paywalled and Ad-Free Episodes
    • PEL Episodes by Topic
    • Nightcap
    • Philosophy vs. Improv
    • Pretty Much Pop
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • (sub)Text
    • Phi Fic Podcast
    • Combat & Classics
    • Constellary Tales
  • Blog
  • About
    • PEL FAQ
    • Meet PEL
    • About Pretty Much Pop
    • Philosophy vs. Improv
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • Meet Phi Fic
    • Listener Feedback
    • Links
  • Join
    • Become a Citizen
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Log In
  • Donate
  • Store
    • Episodes
    • Swag
    • Everything Else
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My Account
  • Contact
  • Mailing List

Ep. 232: Simone de Beauvoir’s “The Second Sex” (Part Two)

December 29, 2019 by Mark Linsenmayer 4 Comments

http://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/partiallyexaminedlife/PEL_ep_232pt2_12-2-19.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:09 — 57.9MB)

Continuing Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949) with guest Jennifer Hansen.

We explore the Hegelian foundations of the text: How does one become a Subject and how do women traditionally get shut out of this process? What do they do to compensate for or react to being so mutilated? We get into the "Lived Experience" sections of the text where Beauvoir details how this drama unfolds in upbringing, marriage, and other stages of life. How does religiosity among women reflect their situation? Beauvoir says that men even claim logic itself, using it as a tool to get women to assent to their own subjugation, which many women therefore reject.

We're still left with these questions: How do we modernize this critique given the evolution in women's positions since the book was written? And while it shows how social forces shape women's roles, what's the exact connection with biology? Could the entirety of women's situation be different, or do biological factors inevitably determine some of its more invidious parameters?

Start with part one or get the full, ad-free Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!

End song: "Wrong Side of Gone" by Beth Kille as discussed on Nakedly Examined Music #13.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Filed Under: Podcast Episodes Tagged With: existentialism, feminism, philosophy podcast, psychology, Simone de Beauvoir

Comments

  1. s. wallerstein says

    January 1, 2020 at 10:48 am

    Thank you all for the interesting discussion on the Second Sex.

    I know that you guys, like me, are fans of De Beauvoir (I recall your conversations on The Ethics of Ambiguity) and so I’d like to suggest that you take a look at her book on Old Age.

    It’s the best work on being old that I know of. I’m 73 and I read it the first time when it came out around 1970 and understood nothing. It’s almost impossible for someone young to understand what it’s like being old. I think that it’s easier for a man to understand what it’s like being a woman and certainly vice versa. Just yesterday a polite young lady offered me her subway seat and I explained that actually, it’s easier for me to remain standing than to sit down and get up: I’m not at all sure that she understood me, but anyone over 65 would.

    Maybe you guys are still a little too young to read it, but it would be a good idea to put it on your list of future reading.

    Reply
  2. Kaïa says

    January 3, 2020 at 6:35 pm

    A great discussion, but a glaringly absent analysis around how traditionally “feminine” characteristics are as unacceptable for male-identified people as they are for female-identified people. Just about everything said about women could be applied to feminine presenting men. The episode ends with a mention of progress looking like telling young girls they’re strong instead of pretty, which only serves to reinforce the subjugation of the feminine and teach her that masculinization is the only road to “success” as our society measures it. Perhaps not a “Philosophy of Fashion” episode, but something that highlights how elevation of feminine traits, roles, careers could be beneficial for all genders.

    Reply
    • Mark Linsenmayer says

      January 3, 2020 at 10:16 pm

      Thanks, yes, that’s a notable blind spot in the text. While she clearly thinks that the “second weaning” given to boys is crazy, it’s not her task in this book to remove “toxic masculinity,” i.e. aggression, but just to untangle us from the situation where women are treated as objects. Making men more compassionate and gentle (though not passive) would presumably be necessary for this, but it’s not sufficient. She’s dealing with a different problem: that even the most good-hearted man will treat women like crap when operating within the patriarchal framework. We go into this more in ep. 234 (just recorded a couple of days ago) when talking more about B. on relationships. There’s some discussion of what you’re talking about in our discussion of Lysistrata from a year and a half ago or so (where we for once had two female guests).

      Reply
  3. Jennifer Tejada says

    January 7, 2020 at 1:30 pm

    Jenny – you were amazing. Thank you so much. I almost heard an apology for your awesomeness in the “thank you for tolerating my passion.” And thank you guys for this. It was so so great.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

PEL Live Show 2023

Brothers K Live Show

Citizenship has its Benefits

Become a PEL Citizen
Become a PEL Citizen, and get access to all paywalled episodes, early and ad-free, including exclusive Part 2's for episodes starting September 2020; our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more causally; a community of fellow learners, and more.

Rate and Review

Nightcap

Listen to Nightcap
On Nightcap, listen to the guys respond to listener email and chat more casually about their lives, the making of the show, current events and politics, and anything else that happens to come up.

Subscribe to Email Updates

Select list(s):

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Support PEL

Buy stuff through Amazon and send a few shekels our way at no extra cost to you.

Tweets by PartiallyExLife

Recent Comments

  • Bibliophile on Pretty Much Pop #143: Pinocchio the Unfilmable (Yet Frequently Filmed)
  • Mark Linsenmayer on Ep. 302: Erasmus Praises Foolishness (Part Two)
  • Mark Linsenmayer on Ep. 308: Moore’s Proof of Mind-Independent Reality (Part Two for Supporters)
  • Mark Linsenmayer on Ep. 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Citizen Edition)
  • MartinK on Ep. 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Citizen Edition)

About The Partially Examined Life

The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don’t have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we’re talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion

Become a PEL Citizen!

As a PEL Citizen, you’ll have access to a private social community of philosophers, thinkers, and other partial examiners where you can join or initiate discussion groups dedicated to particular readings, participate in lively forums, arrange online meet-ups for impromptu seminars, and more. PEL Citizens also have free access to podcast transcripts, guided readings, episode guides, PEL music, and other citizen-exclusive material. Click here to join.

Blog Post Categories

  • (sub)Text
  • Aftershow
  • Announcements
  • Audiobook
  • Book Excerpts
  • Citizen Content
  • Citizen Document
  • Citizen News
  • Close Reading
  • Combat and Classics
  • Constellary Tales
  • Exclude from Newsletter
  • Featured Ad-Free
  • Featured Article
  • General Announcements
  • Interview
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Misc. Philosophical Musings
  • Nakedly Examined Music Podcast
  • Nakedly Self-Examined Music
  • NEM Bonus
  • Not School Recording
  • Not School Report
  • Other (i.e. Lesser) Podcasts
  • PEL Music
  • PEL Nightcap
  • PEL's Notes
  • Personal Philosophies
  • Phi Fic Podcast
  • Philosophy vs. Improv
  • Podcast Episode (Citizen)
  • Podcast Episodes
  • Pretty Much Pop
  • Reviewage
  • Song Self-Exam
  • Supporter Exclusive
  • Things to Watch
  • Vintage Episode (Citizen)
  • Web Detritus

Follow:

Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Apple Podcasts

Copyright © 2009 - 2023 · The Partially Examined Life, LLC. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Copyright Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in