The Second Sex
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Key Facts
full title · The Second Sex
author · Simone de Beauvoir
type of work · Nonfiction
genre · Women’s studies; philosophy
language · French
time and place written · Paris
date of first publication · 1949
publisher · Gallimard
point of view · Third person; very occasionally first person
major conflict · Men and women struggle for primacy in society.
themes · Immanence vs. transcendence; nature vs. nurture; reproduction vs. production
motifs · The eternal feminine; the Other
symbols · The praying mantis
