Re-reading the Second Sex: Theorizing the Situation

Elaine Stavro’s 2000 article in Feminist Theory offers an important philosophical re-reading of the feminist classic The Second Sex. As a scholar of Beauvoir, Stavro challenges mainstream readings that diminish Beauvoir as merely Sartre’s follower, revealing her unique theorization of “situation” as an independent philosopher and the profound implications of this contribution for feminist theory.

Challenging the “Sartre’s Appendage” Narrative

For decades, The Second Sex has been read as applying Sartrean existentialist philosophy to analyze women’s oppression. This reading implies:

Traditional Critical Refrain

• Beauvoir is philosophically dependent on Sartre, lacking originality
• She merely applies Sartre’s concepts (Being/Nothingness, in-itself/for-itself, transcendence/immanence) to “women’s issues”
• She accepts Sartre’s universalism and abstractness
• Her theory therefore inherits Sartre’s limitations

This dismissive reading reached its peak with French poststructuralist feminists (like Kristeva, Irigaray) who criticized Beauvoir’s “male identification” and negative attitude toward women’s bodies.

Stavro’s Rebuttal

Stavro systematically refutes this reading:

• Beauvoir has her own independent philosophical project
• She critically transforms rather than simply applies Sartre’s concepts
• Her theory of “situation” challenges Sartre’s abstract view of freedom
• She concretizes Sartre’s abstract philosophy through embodied, contextually sensitive analysis

Stavro argues we must view Beauvoir as an independent philosopher, not Sartre’s “companion” or “student.”

Theorizing “Situation”: Beauvoir’s Core Contribution

Stavro argues that Beauvoir’s theorization of “situation” is her most important philosophical innovation:

Beyond Sartre’s Abstract Freedom

Sartre in Being and Nothingness claims:

• Humans are absolutely free, even in chains
• We can always choose how to give meaning to circumstances
• Freedom is an ontological fact, unconditioned by experience
• Subjects transcend all situations through choice

This view is highly abstract, ignoring material and social conditions of freedom.

Beauvoir’s Theory of Situation

In contrast, Beauvoir develops a multi-dimensional theory of situation:

Material Dimension:

• Biological facts of the body (menstruation, pregnancy, menopause)
• But meanings of these facts are socially constructed
• The body is not destiny, but cannot be ignored

Economic Dimension:

• Economic dependence limits women’s free choices
• Lack of property and income shapes women’s possibilities
• Economic structures aren’t external constraints but constitute situation itself

Cultural Dimension:

• Myths, representations, discourses shape the meaning of “woman”
• Culture isn’t just ideas but materially affects women’s lives
• Women are constructed as “Other”

Psychological Dimension:

• Internalized oppression affects women’s self-perception and desires
• But women aren’t completely determined passive victims
• Contradiction exists: both shaped and agentic

Stavro argues Beauvoir’s concept of “situation” dialectically unifies freedom and constraint, agency and structure.

Embodied Subjectivity: Critiquing the Cartesian-Sartrean Tradition

Beauvoir’s emphasis on situation closely relates to her theorization of embodied subjectivity:

Beyond Mind-Body Dualism

Traditional philosophy (Descartes, Kant, Sartre):

• Binary oppositions of mind/body, reason/emotion, transcendence/immanence
• Equates subjectivity with abstract, disembodied rationality
• Views body as obstacle to or tool of freedom

Though Sartre discusses the body, he primarily views it as object of “being-for-others.”

Beauvoir’s Embodied Subject

Beauvoir proposes:

• Subjectivity is always embodied
• The body isn’t something we “have” but something we “are”
• Embodied experience is gendered, classed, racialized
• The body is both site of freedom and oppression

Her detailed analyses of women’s bodily experiences (menstruation, sexuality, pregnancy, nursing, aging) aren’t biological determinism but show how bodily experiences are given meaning in specific social situations.

Critiquing Abstract Universalism

Through embodied subjectivity theory, Beauvoir critiques:

• The supposedly universal “human” is actually male
• Abstract freedom concepts ignore concrete living conditions
• Male-centrism of philosophical tradition
• Demotion of particularity (women, bodies) as secondary

Stavro argues this critique presages later feminist epistemology and situated knowledge theories.

Critical Transformation of Sartrean Existentialism

Stavro analyzes in detail how Beauvoir “transgressively employs” Sartre’s concepts:

Reinterpreting In-itself/For-itself

Sartre:

• In-itself (Being-in-itself): inert, material existence
• For-itself (Being-for-itself): consciousness, absolute freedom
• Clear distinction, human consciousness is pure for-itself

Beauvoir:

• Women often demoted to “in-itself,” objectified
• But this isn’t ontological fact, it’s result of social oppression
• Women are simultaneously in-itself and for-itself—embodied consciousness
• Liberation means recognizing women’s status as for-itself

Beauvoir uses Sartre’s categories to reveal mechanisms of gender oppression while challenging their abstractness.

Gendered Analysis of Transcendence/Immanence

Sartre:

• Humans define themselves through “transcendence” projects
• Transcendence projects toward future, creates meaning
• Opposed to “immanence” (trapped in present)

Beauvoir:

• Women systematically confined to realm of immanence
• Through housework, reproduction, care bound to repetitive labor
• Transcendence projects (art, politics, intellectual activity) reserved for men
• This allocation isn’t natural but patriarchal construction

Beauvoir reveals gender politics of the philosophical category transcendence/immanence.

Dialectical Analysis of Otherness

Sartre in Being and Nothingness:

• The Other’s gaze makes me object
• Otherness is reciprocal, symmetrical relation
• Conflict is foundation of interpersonal relations

Beauvoir in The Second Sex:

• Women unilaterally constructed as “Absolute Other”
• Men are subject, norm, universal; women are other, deviant, particular
• Othering isn’t symmetrical: men aren’t constructed as women’s other
• This asymmetry is power relation, not just ontological fact

Beauvoir historicizes and materializes Sartre’s abstract theory of otherness.

Situated Freedom: Critiquing Radical Choice

Stavro emphasizes that Beauvoir’s situation theory fundamentally challenges Sartre’s concept of freedom:

Sartre’s Radical Freedom

• We are “condemned to be free”
• Even in extreme situations (like concentration camps), we can choose our attitude
• Refusing to choose is also a choice
• Bad faith is self-deceptively denying freedom

This view is criticized as too voluntarist and individualist.

Beauvoir’s Situated Freedom

Beauvoir argues freedom isn’t abstract ontological property but:

• Graded: Different situations provide different degrees of freedom
• Materially conditioned: Economic resources affect actual range of choices
• Socially constructed: Cultural norms shape imaginable possibilities
• Relational: Others’ freedom is condition of my freedom

Famously, Beauvoir writes: “The drama of oppression is that it deprives one of the possibility of transcendence.” This explicitly challenges Sartre’s claim that freedom is inalienable.

From Individual Choice to Collective Liberation

Beauvoir’s analysis leads to political conclusions:

• Individual consciousness-raising insufficient for liberation
• Need to change material, economic, legal, cultural conditions
• Requires collective action and social transformation
• Ethical project needs political foundation

This transcends the individualism of Sartre’s early existentialism.

Contributions to Feminist Epistemology

Stavro notes that Beauvoir’s situation theory presages later feminist epistemology:

Situated Knowledge

Beauvoir’s analysis contains insights:

• All knowledge is produced from specific locations
• “Objective” knowledge claims often mask male perspective
• Women’s embodied experience provides different epistemological resources
• Acknowledging situatedness doesn’t equal relativism

These themes develop in situated knowledge theories of Haraway, Harding, and others.

Presaging Standpoint Theory

Beauvoir’s analysis also presages feminist standpoint theory:

• Marginal positions can produce critical insights
• Oppressors often can’t see mechanisms of oppression
• Oppressed perspectives reveal hidden power relations
• But this requires critical reflection, isn’t automatic

Of course, Beauvoir doesn’t essentialize or idealize women’s experience.

Theorizing Experience

Beauvoir shows how to theorize concrete experience:

• Not simply describing or storytelling
• Revealing structures and mechanisms behind experience
• Connecting personal experience with social structures
• Respecting particularity while pursuing universal insights

This method profoundly influences feminist methodology.

Responding to Poststructuralist Critiques

Stavro defends Beauvoir against French feminist poststructuralist critiques:

The “Male Identification” Charge

Critique: Beauvoir denigrates women, femininity, and motherhood, identifying with male values.

Stavro’s Response:

• Beauvoir critiques compulsory femininity, not women themselves
• She opposes essentializing women as maternity
• She critiques social roles restricting women, not women’s choices
• She advocates women’s access to public sphere like men

Beauvoir’s position isn’t “male identification” but opposition to gender essentialism.

The Body Negativity Charge

Critique: Beauvoir holds negative, disgusted attitude toward women’s bodies (especially reproduction).

Stavro’s Response:

• Beauvoir critiques social organization of reproduction, not reproduction itself
• She reveals how reproduction under patriarchy limits women’s freedom
• She argues reproduction should be choice, not compulsion
• Her analysis is historically specific, not universal assertion

Beauvoir isn’t against the body but against reducing women to reproductive functions.

The Universalism Charge

Critique: Beauvoir adopts universalist anthropology, ignoring difference and plurality.

Stavro’s Response:

• Beauvoir’s analysis is highly contextualized, attending to specific historical conditions
• She acknowledges diversity of women’s experiences (class, age, marital status)
• Her concept of “situation” itself is anti-universalist
• She seeks not abstract universality but common structures of oppression

Beauvoir balances universal analysis with acknowledgment of concrete differences.

Relevance for Contemporary Feminist Theory

Stavro argues that rediscovering Beauvoir has important value for contemporary feminist theory:

Beyond Essentialism/Constructionism Binary

Beauvoir’s situation theory provides resources for transcending contemporary debate impasses:

• Acknowledges materiality (body, economy) while emphasizing social construction
• Opposes biological determinism without falling into pure discursivism
• Acknowledges structural constraints while maintaining agency
• Dialectical thinking rather than binary oppositions

This remains instructive for contemporary discussions of identity, gender, intersectionality.

Pioneer of Material Feminism

Beauvoir’s focus on material conditions (economy, body, labor) presages:

• 1990s material feminist turn
• Critique of pure culturalism/discursivism
• Re-emphasis on capitalism, labor, class
• New materialism’s attention to material-discursive entanglement

Beauvoir never abandoned material analysis.

Ethics of Political Engagement

Beauvoir’s existentialist ethics emphasizes:

• Freedom is interdependent: my freedom requires others’ freedom
• Oppressing others limits one’s own freedom
• Ethics requires political commitment and action
• Ambiguity is fundamental characteristic of human condition

This ethics remains valuable for contemporary activism and solidarity politics.

Methodological Contributions

Stavro’s re-reading itself demonstrates important methodology:

Generous Reading

Opposing views of Beauvoir as Sartre’s appendage or outdated theorist:

• Seeking strongest interpretation of text
• Understanding in historical context
• Acknowledging complexity and contradictions
• Discovering enduring value for present

This is “generous hermeneutics” against quick dismissal.

Gendering Intellectual History

Stavro reveals:

• How women philosophers are systematically diminished
• How their originality is attributed to male mentors
• How philosophical canon is constructed and maintained
• Need to rewrite philosophy history, acknowledging women’s contributions

This is important intervention in feminist philosophy history.

Cross-theoretical Dialogue

Stavro facilitates:

• Dialogue between existentialism and poststructuralism
• Connecting phenomenology with political economy
• Interaction between French and Anglo-American feminism
• Combining classic re-reading with contemporary theory

This dialogical method enriches feminist theory.

Limitations and Ongoing Debates

Worth noting, Stavro’s reading also faces some issues:

Beauvoir’s Eurocentrism

Even acknowledging Beauvoir’s situation theory:

• Her analysis still primarily focuses on European history
• Limited discussion of colonialism and race
• Universality claims about “woman” category problematic
• Needs postcolonial feminist supplementation

Heteronormative Framework

Beauvoir’s analysis assumes:

• Heterosexual relations as primary analytical framework
• Insufficient discussion of lesbian experience
• Gender binary basically unquestioned
• Needs queer theory intervention

Class Analysis Limitations

Though Beauvoir attends to economic conditions:

• Her analysis still primarily middle-class perspective
• Less attention to working-class women’s experiences
• Insufficient depth of dialogue with Marxism
• Needs socialist feminist deepening

Conclusion

Elaine Stavro’s “Re-reading the Second Sex” successfully restores Simone de Beauvoir’s status as independent philosopher and feminist theorist. Through detailed analysis of Beauvoir’s theorization of “situation,” Stavro demonstrates how she critically transformed existentialist philosophy, developing a theory of embodied, contextually sensitive subjectivity.

Beauvoir’s core contribution lies in dialectically unifying freedom and constraint, agency and structure, universality and situatedness. Her analysis transcends Sartre’s abstract voluntarism while avoiding determinism. She shows how philosophy can maintain theoretical rigor while attending to concrete lived realities.

In the contemporary moment, Beauvoir’s thought remains instructive for many debates: essentialism versus constructionism, discourse versus materiality, individual versus structure, difference versus solidarity. Her concept of “situation” provides rich resources for understanding intersectionality, embodiment, and situated knowledge.

Stavro’s re-reading also reminds us that classic texts merit repeated re-reading; each era can discover new meanings within them. Amid tendencies toward quick dismissal and “canceling” predecessors, generous yet critical re-reading is a valuable scholarly practice.

This article was written by AI assistant based on Elaine Stavro’s 2000 essay in Feminist Theory, incorporating her long-term research on Beauvoir’s philosophy to explore The Second Sex’s situation theory and its enduring contributions to feminist philosophy.