The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Suspect in grisly Busan murder sent to prosecutors for further probe

  • 3

    Roland Garros 2023

  • 5

    'HyeMiLeeYeChaePa' producer Lee Tae-kyung hopeful of second season

  • 7

    How artist Michael Rakowitz resurrects lost past of Iraq through food packaging

  • 9

    LG Chem joins Korean firms strengthening ties with Japan

  • 11

    More banks offer daily interest payments on deposits

  • 13

    HMM tasked with preventing sale of Hyundai LNG to foreign firm

  • 15

    Hyundai Elevator launches AI, IoT-powered maintenance service

  • 17

    B.I puts drug conviction behind him as he makes fresh start

  • 19

    TREND REPORTCheckerboard print newest trend among stars

  • 2

    Stray Kids drops 3rd LP with 'unique, enjoyable' lead track

  • 4

    Airlines fiercely compete to acquire additional aircraft

  • 6

    Seoul imposes sanctions on North Korean hacking group for role in space launch

  • 8

    KAERI distances itself from Oxford professor's claim on Fukushima water

  • 10

    Luxury brands continue hiking prices in Korea

  • 12

    POSCO, GM expand joint EV battery materials investment in North America

  • 14

    Indo-Pacific region highlighted as important for Korean economy's future

  • 16

    Korean stocks feared to lose steam on prolonged trade deficit, real estate doldrums

  • 18

    Yoon receives flak for saying social welfare spending needs greater scrutiny

  • 20

    US deepens trilateral cooperation with S. Korea, Japan against N. Korean threats: Biden

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
Sun, June 4, 2023 | 00:50
Thoughts of the Times
Simone de Beauvoir and women
Posted : 2022-11-13 14:02
Updated : 2022-11-13 14:02
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
By Lee Nan-hee

Sometimes I ask a question to myself. What is woman? How can we define woman? As a womb with ovaries? Or as a certain essence of abstract philosophical thoughts? According to Linda Nicholson, the author of the book, "The Second Wave," there is no such thing as a fixed unchanging substance of being a woman, or of being a Black person, or a Jew. The features of a woman, Black person or Jew come into being in response to circumstances. In history, the Enlightenment, rationalism and nominalism assert that a woman doesn't have any specific content. Defining a woman as performing a certain function is not enough either.

Feminist theorists of the second wave of feminism tried to create theories to explicate the severity and pervasiveness of women's oppression.

"The Second Sex," written by Simone de Beauvoir, can be considered one of these efforts. Beauvoir explains how man becomes a subject, an autonomous individual, a human being, on the basis of biological sexual differences between man and woman, while woman is usually regarded as "other" in relation to man. Woman is usually not understood as a being of transcendence. This term of transcendence must have been derived from her philosophical bedrock of existentialism, which she shared with Jean Paul Sartre.

Though Beauvoir's book, "The Second Sex," was written in 1949, her explanations can be extended and applied to even farther past history. In ancient societies and myths, man was considered the absolute human being. This line of thinking is true with distinguished philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. The same goes for outstanding church fathers and theologians including Tertullian and Aquinas. Man defines woman, woman exists as a relative being to man, which means she is not viewed as an autonomous being. Even in the Bible, it is quite easy to find that women are depicted as the second subject and powerless.

Meanwhile, one conclusion of Claude Levi-Strauss, the French structural anthropologist, is that the passage from nature to culture is marked by humans' ability to see biological relations as a series of contrasts. The subject sets itself up as a contrast over and against the "other" object. But the more exchanges and trades happen among ancient societies, the more and better people realize that those contrasts, those relations are not absolute, but relative. Nonetheless, woman's relativeness and otherness are still not widely recognized or perceived.

For instance, although Jews and Black people had been marginalized as "other," they still had solidarity among themselves to transform society. The same doesn't go for woman, though women have changed society quite a bit. Women have tended not to have as strong a bond as Black people or Jews.

There must be many reasons and circumstances for this phenomenon. But above all, the most crucial reason must be the institution of heterosexual marriage and family. Women live dispersed among men. Many women are much closer to men rather than to other women. Many women are connected in couples of heterosexual marriage and family. Thus, there seems to be not many means to organize women. Women are divided, stratified mostly according to their economic classes. Though they are the same women, they differ and vary in terms of their economic interests.


Dr. Lee Nan-hee (godorchid@gmail.com) studied English in college, and theology at Hanshin University.


 
wooribank
Top 10 Stories
1Roland Garros 2023 Roland Garros 2023
2Airlines fiercely compete to acquire additional aircraft Airlines fiercely compete to acquire additional aircraft
3Seoul imposes sanctions on North Korean hacking group for role in space launch Seoul imposes sanctions on North Korean hacking group for role in space launch
4KAERI distances itself from Oxford professor's claim on Fukushima water KAERI distances itself from Oxford professor's claim on Fukushima water
5Luxury brands continue hiking prices in Korea Luxury brands continue hiking prices in Korea
6LG Chem joins Korean firms strengthening ties with Japan LG Chem joins Korean firms strengthening ties with Japan
7More banks offer daily interest payments on deposits More banks offer daily interest payments on deposits
8POSCO, GM expand joint EV battery materials investment in North America POSCO, GM expand joint EV battery materials investment in North America
9HMM tasked with preventing sale of Hyundai LNG to foreign firm HMM tasked with preventing sale of Hyundai LNG to foreign firm
10Indo-Pacific region highlighted as important for Korean economy's future Indo-Pacific region highlighted as important for Korean economy's future
Top 5 Entertainment News
1[INTERVIEW] 'One Day Off' star Lee Na-young, director on creating subtle, feel-good series INTERVIEW'One Day Off' star Lee Na-young, director on creating subtle, feel-good series
2'HyeMiLeeYeChaePa' producer Lee Tae-kyung hopeful of second season 'HyeMiLeeYeChaePa' producer Lee Tae-kyung hopeful of second season
3How artist Michael Rakowitz resurrects lost past of Iraq through food packaging How artist Michael Rakowitz resurrects lost past of Iraq through food packaging
4From hardcore action to heart-throbbing romance, series to hit in June From hardcore action to heart-throbbing romance, series to hit in June
5[INTERVIEW] Lee Jun-hyuk unrecognizable in 'The Roundup: No Way Out' INTERVIEWLee Jun-hyuk unrecognizable in 'The Roundup: No Way Out'
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group