The Second Sex

Synopsis:
Translated by Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier. Annotated and introduced by Martine Reid. "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."

From the author:
Simone de Beauvoir was born in Paris in 1908. In 1929, she became the youngest person ever to obtain the agrégation in philosophy at the Sorbonne, placing second to Jean-Paul Sartre. She taught at the lycées in Marseille and Rouen from 1931 to 1937, and in Paris from 1938 to 1943. After the war, she emerged as one of the leaders of the existentialist movement, working with Sartre on Les Temps Modernes. The author of several books, including The Mandarins (1957), which was awarded the Prix Goncourt, de Beauvoir was one of the most influential thinkers of her generation. She died in 1986.

Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier have lived in Paris for over forty years and are both graduates of Rutgers University, New Jersey. Borde was on the faculty of the Institut d'Études Politiques and has been chair and vice-chair of American Democrats Abroad. Malovany-Chevallier was a full-time faculty member at the Institut d'Études Politiques and continues to teach American literature. They have been translating books and articles on social science, art, and feminist literature for twenty-five years and have jointly authored numerous books in French on subjects ranging from grammar to politics to American cooking.