The Second Sex book club questions

1. 1.

   De Beauvoir says 'One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.' Has your own experience — or your observation of children — confirmed or complicated that claim?

2. 2.

   She argues that economic independence is the prerequisite for genuine freedom for women. Is that still true, or have the conditions changed enough to revise the analysis?

3. 3.

   The book is critiqued for reflecting the perspective of an educated white French woman. Which parts of the argument seem to you most and least generalizable across class, race, and culture?

4. 4.

   De Beauvoir treats motherhood as a constraint on freedom in ways many feminist thinkers have disputed. Where does the disagreement rest, and who do you think is right?

5. 5.

   She uses the concept of 'bad faith' — the flight from freedom into comfortable dependence. What forms does bad faith take in contemporary life for women and for men?

6. 6.

   The book was written in 1949. Which of its observations feel most dated, and which feel most current?

7. 7.

   De Beauvoir was in a lifelong partnership with Sartre that she publicly described as a primary relationship while he had multiple affairs. Does that personal history affect how you read the book?

8. 8.

   She argues that women have been defined as Other throughout history. What would a world look like in which that structure had genuinely been dismantled?

9. 9.

   Which of the two volumes — the historical and mythological survey or the lived experience account — did you find more illuminating?

10. 10.

    The existentialist framework insists on the primacy of freedom and choice. What does that framework miss about structures that constrain choice without individuals being aware of it?

11. 11.

    How does The Second Sex relate to contemporary feminism? What has it enabled, and what has it foreclosed or made harder to see?

12. 12.

    Is there a form of de Beauvoir's argument that a contemporary man should take personally as applying to his own situation or behavior?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.