What Defines Human Nature And The Hierarchy Of Human Relations?

Through my experiences with people of many backgrounds, as well as my education, I have learned to separate the idea of sex and gender. I still maintain certain traditional views regarding gender, however I’ve come to the realization that the social constructs of men and women are not, and should not, be as rigid. In my opinion, I have acknowledged that there are differences between ‘men’ and ‘women’, however these differences should be used to uplift one another, rather than to tear the other gender apart. For example, a family unit in which the man decides to take on the responsibilities of the

In the chapter titled “History” within the book called The Second Sex, Beauvoir talks about various of events and changes along with encounters that provided opportunities to seize greater freedom for women as a collectivity. For instance, when women were able to leave their homes and actually take an outside job, it allowed women a bit confused as to what roles she needed to partake in. Given that men were always gender-policing women to fit the ideal role, the women found it difficult to transitions and thus loose a sense of self along the way. De Beauvoir also states that gainful employment can stop the cycle of dependency on man and thus allow the two genders men and women to see each other’s as equals. It is within the book The Second Sex that De Beauvoir tries to understand the imbalance of gender roles to help her understand this she turns to the biology, psychoanalyst and the historical materialism. In her findings, she reveals that although there are some physical differences between women and men there is no proven facts that women cant do the same task as men in a workforce.

She states that `to pose woman is to pose then absolute Other' (821). `The other' is referred to women who are classified as being different to men even though both share a human body. Women are also not seen as `a subject, a fellow human being.'(821). This is caused by men who believe a myth of females through experiences of which Beauvoir states as feelings and thoughts, rather then the reality of women themselves. Men see women as what they think they see because of the way they feel about women. Men have opinions in ways of physical or knowledge of women. These opinions created are myths which men believe to be the true women. These men usually belong in the western patriarchal society. Men hold myths against women and "placed women beneath men and held them to be the property of men" (Guerrero). Being "placed beneath men" can show that women are treated unequally in a patriarchal society where they are not respected. This is the woman in a patriarch world.

He helps his audience see how easy it is to naturally assume that dominance is the stronger trait, when in fact all characteristics are neutral. Society determines which characteristics are positive, negative, stronger or weaker. Devor uses scientific research to show how society’s definition of male and female characteristics “flow inevitably from evolutionary and biological sources.” (Devor 476). He argues that “feminine characteristics are thought to be intrinsic to the female facility for childbirth and breastfeeding,” forcing them to be more passive, attentive and communal. This, along with the female’s “‘natural’ dependency on men for the maintenance of the mother-child unit” gives them the title of “weaker sex” (Devor 476). Devor’s research clarifies that, from a strictly scientific perspective, men and women harbor a mutualistic relationship where the man must protect the woman, who is critically responsible for the birth and maintenance of his offspring. From a biological perspective, the two possess complementary character traits, making them equally important variables in this genetic relationship. Yet, somewhere along the lines, this evolutionary relationship seeped into modern day society, introducing the belief that the female social position is “biologically mandated to be intertwined with the care of children and a ‘natural dependency on men” (476). The modern

Jean Jacques Rousseau is an obnoxious writer during the Enlightenment period that published Emile in 1762 discussing the nature of man and women. Throughout Emile, Rousseau stresses that “except for sex, woman is like a man: she has the same organs, the same needs, the same faculties”. Although there are many similarities, the difference of sex makes the nature between the two so

Simone de Beauvoir defines the lived experience of women as one of “otherness,” and from this stems the oppression of women. De Beauvoir explains the lived experiences of women when she states that “he is the Subject; he is the Absolute. She is the other.” The man constitutes himself at the “subject” and the “absolute,” both descriptors place complete emphasis and importance on the man, the women are only relevant in their existence as the “other.” Since women are presently regulated to the category of the other, “humanity is male, and man defines women, not in herself, but in relation to himself; she is not considered an autonomous being.” Without a form of autonomy women have no basis for understanding themselves as women. If women must identify themselves through men, there is no way to escape a society in which men are the center of society and women are merely peripheral beings that conflate themselves to the wills and wishes of the more relevant man.

Biologically speaking, De Beauvoir notes that the sexes are defined in opposition to each other; for example, man is not woman and woman is not man. Their differences are, however, unidentifiable at the most basic of cellular levels. Therefore, the main differentiation of the two genders is demonstrated through sexuality. De Beauvoir goes on to argue that woman’s passive role in procreation reflects her passive role in society, and that society trains women to become subjugated from the very day of their birth. Further, despite the two sexes’ cooperative role in creating new members of the species, men are regarded as those who provide “the stimuli needed for evoking new life” (13) and women who simply enable the new life “to become lodged in a stable organism.” (13) This reinforces stereotypical notions of the virile male and the passive female, notions that are reflected in society as woman takes a

Beauvoir became an existentialist philosopher, a feminist, and a political activist. She published a book in 1943 entitled, “She came to stay” and in it she examined existential ideals. In 1949, her book, “The Second Sex” was published in France, and then in 1953 in the United States. Although Beauvoir wrote many books, this specific book helped lay down the foundation for feminist philosophers. Beauvoir grew up during a time when women were especially oppressed. During the 1900’s, the people of France dealt with an inadequate diet, constant hard work, and poor hygiene. Women dealt with these problems as well as taking care of their household and everyone in it. Marriage was also seen as a necessity in society. In “The Second Sex”, Beauvoir exposes and challenges the patriarchy that she witnesses. Beauvoir examines the reasons why women have been forced into a secondary level of society even though women make up half of the human population. She also makes the argument that one is not born woman, but becomes one. She describes woman as the other, and explains how men and society oppress women. The man is the subject who sees, and the woman is always the

Universally, the status of a woman in a society is secondary to a man’s status. On the other hand, there are societies today that man is subordinate to woman. The treatments and symbolizations of women are diverse and vary from culture to culture. No cultures are exactly the same. In this critical review of Ortner (1974) “Is Female to Male as Nature Is to Culture” I will attempt to give a summary and critical analysis on the article.

In this essay I discuss that "doing gender means creating differences between girls and boys and women and men...." (West & Zimmerman 2002:13) I am concentrating on the female perspective, how societyputs forth expectations of what is 'natural' or biological even though, in some cases, it can be quite demeaning and degrading. I am using some examples from the local media and also a few childhoodexperiences that have helped me to now strongly suspect that the quote from Simone Beauvoir (1972) "One is not born a woman, but rather becomes one" most likely has quite a bit of truth to it.

Just as Pygmalion sculpts Galatea, man sculpts the idea of woman. The consequence of this is that man perpetuates the idea of womanhood, and women obey it. Beauvoir encourages women to fight against this idea of womanhood, arguing that “To pose women is to [deny]… that she is a subject, a fellow human being” (De Beauvoir). Most people unfortunately do not fight back against this idea of womanhood, and remain passive to it.

Human nature, the essence of what makes a human person what they are, is something that everybody has. Every person is innately a person, but how they put their personhood into action is the biggest indicator of their character, or the projection of a person’s human nature. At their core there is human nature, but their actions are what direct this source of humanity. The quality of someone’s actions is shaped by their environment and sometimes their biological makeup as well. Human nature does not have good or evil characteristics. It is how a person thinks and acts that is the true factor in the shaping of their character.

The following text comes from Simone de Beauvoir called “The Second Sex,” which discusses the ideas of the feminist

De Beauvoir’s “Woman as Other” lays out an elaborate argument on gender inequality; using the term “other” to establish woman’s alternate, lesser important role throughout her work, the author dissects and examines from its origin the female’s secondary position in society in contrast to man. Indeed, from the beginning of recorded history, the duality of man, by definition, positions woman at the opposing end of the spectrum in relation to her male counterpart. Even by today’s modern and accepting standards, the female suffers under the brand of being the sub-standard half of the duality equation; compared to her male opponent, women are paid lower wages, have fewer and limited expression of rights, achieve lower

It may be possible to imagine a place where no one would make a fuss over the differences between a white or a black man, but unfortunately, it is likely impossible to imagine a society that would not comment on the differences between a man and a woman (Heinämaa, 127). Simone de Beauvoir was quite determined to give society a glimpse into what it meant to be a woman within her time period, and did so by writing her novel The Second Sex which brought many controversial topics to light. There are four concepts I will be mentioning in different sections of this paper, and it is best to know how Beauvoir personally defines these terms. Firstly, “alienation” refers to the action of projecting oneself into a different person or object, thereby losing all responsibility for yourself (Moi,