There is Only One Sphere

Dualities often give rise to conflict. Hot or cold, peace or war, black or white… it is natural for one to dominate the other; it is difficult to conceive of a reality in which both can successfully coexist. Simone de Beauvoir, a prevalent feminist of her time, offers her analysis on one specific duality: that of the sexes. She claims that from the beginning of humans’ existence, this duality preconditioned a conflict. “... doubtless the winner will assume the status of the absolute,” she says (de Beauvoir 258). In her time, men seem to have already emerged victorious in this invisible battle, and they have taken their territory to go along with it. In this victory lies yet another duality- “... the Self and the Other” (255). For every group that “sets itself up as the One,” they set up another as the “Other… against itself” (255). In doing so, the One asserts their dominance.They assume superiority, and thus assign inferiority to those who do not align with them. In this model, conflict is inevitable. The One will fight to maintain their status, and the Other, as they begin to crawl out of Plato’s Cave, becoming enlightened and realizing the vast world that exists outside of themselves, realize that they want to escape this undesirable label. In the case of man and woman, man has asserted itself as the One, and woman is relegated to the role of the Other. Thus “humanity is male and man defines woman not in herself but as relative to him” (254). Women are nothing without men, according to this model.

All this provides necessary context for Beauvoir’s response to les querelles des femmes, or the question of women. It asks what must be done with woman, what role they must occupy in society. It a peculiar conundrum, for it implies that something must be done with women at all. In the same way that “a man never begins by presenting himself as an individual of a certain sex,” a man must never face confusion about what must be done with him (256). Les querelles des femmes puts the onus on women to pull themselves out of a cave they did not know they were part of in the first place. The truth is that men put them there. Perhaps they were fearful of the power of women,of what she could do with the same opportunities given to them. Two preeminent women in western society were Eve and Pandora, and they both have helplessly negative connotations attached to their name. Eve took a bite from the forbidden Apple; Pandora opened a jar that unleashed troubles and woes to plague humankind forever. From a male, western point of view, it would appear that women only serve to stir up trouble, that they are obstacles in man’s ultimate pursuit of greatness. If this sentiment remains consistent with the tales of Eve and Pandora, it would seem that men’s superiority and women’s inferiority are embedded in Nature itself. Men, therefore, may feel obligated to fight against women instead of working with them.

But herein lies the contradiction in the belief of male superiority. If women offer nothing positive to society, why do men allow, and even force, women to be dependent upon them? Why would men want to marry women? To spend any time with them at all? Clearly, women had and always will have an important role in society. They have simply been blocked from reaching their potential. Simone de Beauvoir was right to point out the inherent conflict present in the duality of man and woman. She was also right to declare that this duality needn’t exist. The idea that woman, as well as men, are ascribed certain roles in society has proven to be fruitless.

In De Beauvoir’s time, there existed two spheres for men and women- the domestic and public there. There was a sexual division of labor, clear roles assigned to both genders. Women’s sole function existed in motherhood, while men worked in the public world. This prevented women from obtaining an adequate education or performing tasks outside of their house. De Beauvoir vehemently disagrees with this notion, claiming that women must “... escape from the sphere hitherto assigned” (262). ” There should not be two spheres in the first place Men and woman inhabit one planet, one sphere, that we can and should coexist on. Embedded in Nature is not the separation of the sexes, but the cooperation of them. Because while some dualities can give rise to conflict, they don’t have to. And in the case of men and women, they aren’t really dualities at all; both are essential.

This idea survives the test of time as the lines of gender roles continue to blur. Women were granted the right to own their own property, to attend college, to serve in the army. Previously, these were privileges only afforded to men. As we have continued to make progress in gender equality, we have also made progress in our world. Some of the best doctors, teachers, engineers, are women who defied the expectations placed upon them. Our world can only be sustained if both sexes caN have “full membership in the human race” (262). Simone de Beauvoir answered the question of women by reframing it as a question of what society must to do succeed, not just one half of it.