Simone de Beauvoir: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Simone de Beauvoir built existentialist ethics and modern feminist theory out of Hegel and Husserl, Left Bank café life, and the Sartrean circle that surrounded her. This mix traces the German philosophy she absorbed, the forgotten women writers and thinkers who fed The Second Sex, and the feminists who took her argument forward.

The Kynda mix for Simone de Beauvoir

• Key Influence · Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre (1943). Beauvoir met Sartre while preparing the 1929 agrégation in philosophy, placing second to his first, and the two read and edited each other's manuscripts for five decades. Being and Nothingness supplies the vocabulary — facticity, transcendence, bad faith, the look of the Other — that she turns against itself in The Second Sex, arguing that woman is made immanent by situation rather than by any essence.
• Influencia Obscura · Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf (1938). Woolf appears repeatedly in The Second Sex, quoted on women's exclusion from education, professions and public life. Three Guineas — less read than A Room of One's Own — makes the argument Beauvoir extends: that the private tyranny of the family and the public tyranny of the state are the same structure. Beauvoir's insistence on economic independence as the precondition of freedom runs parallel to Woolf's.
• Local Roots · Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre (1938). Set in a thinly disguised Le Havre and written while Sartre and Beauvoir taught in provincial lycées, Nausea is the founding novel of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés existentialist scene they built after the Liberation, working from the Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots. Beauvoir read and criticised drafts of the book, and its fusion of fiction with philosophical argument became her own method.
• Beyond the Medium · Olympia by Édouard Manet (1863). The Second Sex devotes long sections to how painting, literature and myth construct woman as spectacle for a male gaze. Manet's Olympia scandalised the 1865 Salon precisely because the nude stared back, refusing the mythological alibi that let viewers consume the female body as Venus. It is the visual case study for Beauvoir's argument that woman is fixed as object by the look of the Other.
• Peer · The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt (1958). Arendt, a contemporary trained in German phenomenology under Heidegger and Jaspers, worked the same postwar terrain of freedom, action and the political consequences of philosophy. Her distinction between labour, work and action maps onto Beauvoir's contrast between immanence — the endlessly repeated housework that produces nothing — and transcendence, the project through which a person makes a world.
• From the Canon · The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir (1949). Written in roughly fourteen months of research at the Bibliothèque Nationale and serialised in Les Temps modernes before Gallimard published it, the book sold enormously, drew Vatican condemnation onto the Index, and was mutilated by H. M. Parshley's 1953 English abridgement until the 2009 full translation. Its thesis — one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman — founded modern feminist theory.
• Key Collaborator · Critique of Dialectical Reason by Jean-Paul Sartre (1960). Beauvoir was Sartre's first reader, editor and, during his amphetamine-fuelled composition of this vast Marxist reworking of existentialism, the person who kept the manuscript in order. Her memoirs record the writing process in detail. The Critique's concepts of the practico-inert and seriality answer the problem her own work posed: how collective structures trap individual freedom in situations nobody chose.
• Legacy · The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan (1963). Friedan read The Second Sex and credited it with awakening her own analysis of American suburban womanhood; the two met and were filmed in conversation in the 1970s. Where Beauvoir theorised woman as Other, Friedan reported the problem that has no name from suburban households, turning existentialist philosophy into the organising document of American second-wave feminism and the founding of NOW.

What influenced Simone de Beauvoir

• G.W.F. Hegel. Scholarship identifies Hegel as an influence on Beauvoir's philosophy. “recent studies of Beauvoir's work focus on influences other than Sartre, including Hegel and Leibniz.” (Wikipedia)
• Léon Brunschvicg. Beauvoir wrote her graduate thesis under the supervision of philosopher Léon Brunschvicg. “wrote her Diplôme d'études supérieures spécialisées (roughly equivalent to an M.A. thesis) on Leibniz for Léon Brunschvicg in 1929” (Wikipedia)
• Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf (1938). Three Guineas (Virginia Woolf) — ghost for Simone de Beauvoir “In The Second Sex (1949), Simone de Beauvoir counts, of all women who ever lived, only three female writers—Emily Brontë, Woolf and "sometimes" Katherine Mansfield—who have explored "the given".” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Phenomenology of Spirit by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1807). Phenomenology of Spirit (Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel) — titan for Simone de Beauvoir “Kojève's interpretation of the "master–slave dialectic" as the basic model of historical development also influenced the feminism of Simone de Beauvoir and the anti-racist and anti-colonial work of Frantz Fanon.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre (1943). Being and Nothingness (Jean-Paul Sartre) — titan for Simone de Beauvoir “It was while studying for it that she met École Normale students Jean-Paul Sartre, Paul Nizan, and René Maheu (who gave her the lasting nickname "Castor", or "Beaver").” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Scholarship identifies Leibniz as an influence on Beauvoir's philosophy. “recent studies of Beauvoir's work focus on influences other than Sartre, including Hegel and Leibniz.” (Wikipedia)
• Annie Ernaux. Beauvoir corresponded with and praised Annie Ernaux's debut novel. “Beauvoir complimented Ernaux, saying she had a "a great talent" after the publication of Ernaux's first novel, Les Armoires vides (Cleaned Out).” (Wikipedia)
• Ethics of Ambiguity by Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1945). Ethics of Ambiguity (Maurice Merleau-Ponty) — ghost for Simone de Beauvoir “She worked with Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Claude Lévi-Strauss, when all three completed their practice teaching requirements at the same secondary school.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Un Chien Andalou by Luis Buñuel (1929). Un Chien Andalou (Luis Buñuel) — culture for Simone de Beauvoir (themoviedb.org)
• Olympia by Édouard Manet (1863). Olympia (Édouard Manet) — culture for Simone de Beauvoir

Peers and kindred spirits

• Jean-Paul Sartre. Establishes Simone de Beauvoir as the life companion and close collaborator of Jean-Paul Sartre. (also via Critique of Dialectical Reason, Nausea, Being and Nothingness) “Jean-Paul Sartre and Beauvoir became a couple for the next 51 years, until his death in 1980” (Wikipedia)
• Nelson Algren (1909). Algren personally knew de Beauvoir in 1949 Paris. (also via The Mandarins) “perhaps her most famous lover was American author Nelson Algren” (Wikipedia)
• Richard Wright. Wright and his wife were close friends with de Beauvoir. (also via America Day by Day) “he and his wife became particularly good friends with Simone de Beauvoir , who stayed with them in 1947.” (Wikipedia)
• The Stranger by Albert Camus. The Stranger (Albert Camus) — geography for Simone de Beauvoir “He also became part of a circle of intellectuals, which included Simone de Beauvoir and André Breton.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Café de Flore. Simone de Beauvoir worked and gathered regularly at the Café de Flore in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. “haben Sartre, (Simone de Beauvoir und viele Freunde sich ganz im „Cafe Flora“ in Saint Germain des Pres niedergelassen, wo sie auch arbeiten.” (Washington Journal (Washington, D.C.))
• Lycée Molière. Beauvoir held a teaching post at the Lycée Molière in Paris. “She taught at the Lycée Montgrand [fr] (Marseille), the Lycée Jeanne-d'Arc (Rouen) [fr], and the Lycée Molière (Paris) (1936–39).” (Wikipedia)
• Tropisms by Nathalie Sarraute (1939). Tropisms (Nathalie Sarraute) — peer for Simone de Beauvoir “Simone de Beauvoir, Marguerite Yourcenar, Nathalie Sarraute, 2002.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Shoah by Claude Lanzmann (1985). Shoah (Claude Lanzmann) — collaborator for Simone de Beauvoir “=== Later years === ==== Nelson Algren ==== She lived with Claude Lanzmann from 1952 to 1959, but perhaps her most famous lover was American author Nelson Algren.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Critique of Dialectical Reason by Jean-Paul Sartre (1960). Critique of Dialectical Reason (Jean-Paul Sartre) — collaborator for Simone de Beauvoir “It was while studying for it that she met École Normale students Jean-Paul Sartre, Paul Nizan, and René Maheu (who gave her the lasting nickname "Castor", or "Beaver").” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre (1938). Nausea (Jean-Paul Sartre) — geography for Simone de Beauvoir “It was while studying for it that she met École Normale students Jean-Paul Sartre, Paul Nizan, and René Maheu (who gave her the lasting nickname "Castor", or "Beaver").” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Les Temps Modernes. Beauvoir co-founded the political-literary journal Les Temps Modernes. “Beauvoir, Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty co-founded Les Temps Modernes, a political journal” (Wikipedia)
• Andre Cayatte. Cayatte initially asked novelist Simone de Beauvoir to write the screenplay for his twin films before she abandoned the attempt. “Originally, he asked Simone de Beauvoir to write the seriots. She tried but the famous novelist and feminist philosonher said the idea defeated her.” (The Daily News Of The Virgin Islands (Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, V.I.))
• The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt (1958). The Human Condition (Hannah Arendt) — peer for Simone de Beauvoir (openlibrary.org)

Who Simone de Beauvoir influenced

• Betty Friedan (1921). Friedan directly credits The Second Sex as the intellectual authority behind her own feminist analysis. (via The Second Sex, The Feminine Mystique) “led me to whatever original analysis of women's existence I have been able to contribute to the Women's movement and its unique politics. I looked to Simone de Beauvoir for a philosophical and intellectual authority.” (Wikipedia)
• Judith Butler (1956). Butler built her theory of gender performativity directly from Beauvoir's concept in The Second Sex. (via The Second Sex, Gender Trouble) “Judith Butler took the concept a step further, arguing that Beauvoir's choice of the verb to become suggests that gender is a process” (Wikipedia)
• The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan (1963). The Feminine Mystique (Betty Friedan) — legacy for Simone de Beauvoir “When asked in a 1975 interview with Betty Friedan if she would support a minimum wage for women who do housework, Beauvoir answered: "No, we don't believe that any woman should have this choice.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Gender Trouble by Judith Butler (1990). Gender Trouble (Judith Butler) — legacy for Simone de Beauvoir “Judith Butler took the concept a step further, arguing that Beauvoir's choice of the verb to become suggests that gender is a process, constantly being renewed in an ongoing interaction between the surrounding culture and individual choice.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Donna Haraway (1944). Haraway traces the roots of modern feminist gender theory back to Beauvoir. “despite important differences, all the modern feminist meanings of gender have roots in Simone de Beauvoir's claim that 'one is not born a woman [one becomes one].'” (Wikipedia)
• Kate Millett (1934). Kate Millett acknowledged a profound debt to Beauvoir's The Second Sex. (via The Second Sex) “The founders of the second-wave read The Second Sex in translation, including Kate Millett, Shulamith Firestone, Juliet Mitchell, Ann Oakley and Germaine Greer. All acknowledged their profound debt to Beauvoir” (Wikipedia)
• Shulamith Firestone (1945). Shulamith Firestone acknowledged a profound debt to Beauvoir's The Second Sex. (via The Second Sex) “The founders of the second-wave read The Second Sex in translation, including Kate Millett, Shulamith Firestone, Juliet Mitchell, Ann Oakley and Germaine Greer. All acknowledged their profound debt to Beauvoir” (Wikipedia)
• Juliet Mitchell (1940). Juliet Mitchell acknowledged a profound debt to Beauvoir's The Second Sex. (via The Second Sex) “The founders of the second-wave read The Second Sex in translation, including Kate Millett, Shulamith Firestone, Juliet Mitchell, Ann Oakley and Germaine Greer. All acknowledged their profound debt to Beauvoir” (Wikipedia)
• Ann Oakley (1944). Ann Oakley acknowledged a profound debt to Beauvoir's The Second Sex. (via The Second Sex) “The founders of the second-wave read The Second Sex in translation, including Kate Millett, Shulamith Firestone, Juliet Mitchell, Ann Oakley and Germaine Greer. All acknowledged their profound debt to Beauvoir” (Wikipedia)
• Germaine Greer (1939). Germaine Greer acknowledged a profound debt to Beauvoir's The Second Sex. (via The Second Sex) “The founders of the second-wave read The Second Sex in translation, including Kate Millett, Shulamith Firestone, Juliet Mitchell, Ann Oakley and Germaine Greer. All acknowledged their profound debt to Beauvoir” (Wikipedia)
• Olga Kosakiewicz (1915). Olga Kosakiewicz is understood to be the real-life inspiration for a character in She Came to Stay. (via She Came to Stay) “It has been assumed that it is inspired by her and Sartre's sexual relationship with Olga Kosakiewicz and Wanda Kosakiewicz.” (Wikipedia)
• Wanda Kosakiewicz (1917). Wanda Kosakiewicz is understood to be the real-life inspiration for a character in She Came to Stay. (via She Came to Stay) “It has been assumed that it is inspired by her and Sartre's sexual relationship with Olga Kosakiewicz and Wanda Kosakiewicz.” (Wikipedia)
• Elisabeth Lacoin (1907). Elisabeth Lacoin ('Zaza') was the real-life basis for Beauvoir's novel Les Inséparables. (via Les Inséparables) “the book describes her first love, a classmate named Elisabeth Lacoin ("Zaza") who died before age 22 of viral encephalitis, and had as a teenager a "passionate and tragic" relationship with Beauvoir.” (Wikipedia)
• Miuccia Prada (1949). The Second Sex (Simone de Beauvoir) — culture for Miuccia Prada (via The Second Sex) (openlibrary.org)
• Judy Chicago. The Second Sex (Simone de Beauvoir) — culture for Judy Chicago (via The Second Sex) (openlibrary.org)
• Kathleen Collins. The Second Sex (Simone de Beauvoir) — culture for Kathleen Collins (via The Second Sex) (openlibrary.org)
• Mary Beth Edelson. The Second Sex (Simone de Beauvoir) — culture for Mary Beth Edelson (via The Second Sex) (openlibrary.org)
• Monique Wittig (1935). Wittig's essay title directly echoes Beauvoir's famous line from The Second Sex. (via The Second Sex)