Existential Feminism: Why Society's Oppression of Women is an Existentialist Crisis

Existential Feminism: Why Society's Oppression of Women is an Existential Crisis

"The Cure to a Woman's Oppression"

What is Existential Feminism?

Being Defined as the "Other"

The emancipation and the reclamation of her self-hood:

• Women are treated as the incidental, the inessential, as opposed to the essential
• May not occur as much in Canada currently but certainly more around the world

• He is the Subject, he is the Absolute - she is the Other

• Other than biological differences why is this factor determining the course of one's life as a woman? Is she not also human like man?

• Males living the transcendent life vs. females living the immanent life

• Existentialism: recognizes that you want a full, rewarding, and authentic life
• Feminism: the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes - equal opportunities for all

• Existential Feminism: analyzes the relationship between the individual woman and male dominated society - the oppression that was and still impacts a female's freedom and ability to live an authentic life

• A woman be allowed to transcend through her own free projects with all the danger, risk, and uncertainty that entails

• Changes in social structures such as universal childcare, equal education, contraception, and legal abortion for women-and perhaps most importantly, woman's economic freedom and independence from man

• It is necessary that laws, customs, and education be altered to encourage equality of the sexes

Immanence: stagnation within a situation (think being stuck or being captive)

Transcendence: reaching out into the future (think freedom)

"Eternal Feminine"

• Simone is against the belief of the "Eternal Feminine"
• This notion in short implies that women are born knowing their destinies on earth because of biological differences (born to only reproduce/ only to be mothers and wives)

Simone de Beauvoir

• Simone battles this notion with her famous and pivotal quote:

“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman”

• A French feminist philosopher who based her life's writings on existential ethics

• The notion of existential feminism emerged from Simone's book "The Second Sex" in 1949

• She exposed the socially imposed gender roles and cultural constructs of limiting a woman's self-determination
• Was the starting point of second-wave feminism

• Quote explained:
• From childhood a young girl is taught how to behave like a "woman" and told of her role in life - a female's existence is socially constructed
• This oppresses her own determination and can place her farther away from the destiny she wishes to achieve in her life
• Acting upon her freedom is made nearly impossible because of this oppression

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