"Everyone who cares about freedom and justice for women should read The Second Sex." (Guardian).
Simone de Beauvoir famously wrote, 'One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman'.
In this ground breaking work of feminism she examines the limits of female freedom and explodes our deeply ingrained beliefs about femininity.
Liberation, she argues, entails challenging traditional perceptions of the social relationship between the sexes and, crucially, in achieving economic independence.
Drawing on sociology, anthropology and biology, The Second Sex is as important and relevant today as when it was first published in 1949.
西蒙娜・德・波伏娃（1908-1986）――享誉世界的法国著名作家，当代最负盛名的女权主义者。存在主义的鼻祖让-保尔・萨特的终身伴侣，她的存在主义的女权理论，对西方的思想和习俗产生了巨大的影响。
西蒙娜・德・波伏娃一生写了许多作品，《第二性》是她获得世界性成功的一部巨著，是“有史以来讨论妇女的最健全、最理智、最充满智慧的一本书”，被誉为女人的“圣经”。成为西方妇女的必读之书。
法国前总统密特朗称她为“法国和全世界的最杰出作家”；法国现任总统希拉克则在一次演讲中说：“她介入文学，代表了某种思想运动，在一个时期标志着我们社会的特点，她的无可置疑的才华，使她成为一个在法国文学史上最有地位的作家。”