There are a lot
of women in history who pretended to be a man. For example, Billy Tipton, the jazz player, was a
woman who wanted to be known for her art and lived her life as a man. She did that to be able
to be acknowledged not for her sexuality, but for her talent. Marina the Monk is another example. The story goes that when
Marina’s father decided to go be a monk, she shaved off her hair and joined
him. These people’s genders were only exposed to people by their deaths. This
is where the notion of men ruling history and being treated better as a man was observed. This is the reason why these women
dressed up and became men for the sake of their passion and not being limited to roles of a wife. The simply wanted to expand their horizons and feel the equality of society.
Beauvoir made a point of liberation for women because in the past, you have to be man
to be recognized for talent and bravery. It is quite unfair, actually, that
women were only seen as those who tend to the house and to the children. She made a point that women shouldn't have to pretend to be a man in order to gain respect and to be
treated equally. A woman becomes what she makes herself - that's what she said. It simply is if she allows herself
to be discriminated, then she will be discriminated. Beauvoir gave the notion
of a "genderless" environment for women, and that society has to be aware and be
considerate of women all the time. But in my opinion, if you want a "genderless" society, then
why does society need to be considerate of women? A "genderless" environment promotes equality
whereas the idea of being considerate with women promotes special treatment. Maybe
because of certain circumstances that women need to be treated specially, but
if you’re going to ask me, I think women are very powerful. Even though they
are treated as weak and helpless most of the time, women can actually manipulate a man into
doing and giving whatever she wants.
A woman is a
man’s weakness. Sometimes, there are cases that women are head over heels for a
man, but in most cases, a man falls for a girl and he’ll do everything to get
her. What a woman can boast about is her manipulating power, but of course,
that is kind of like using your advantages in an evil context. Honestly, I
don’t like being a girl because of the biological factors like menstruation and
heavy boobs. I’m not really a feminist but I really love the notion of a woman
controlling a very powerful man. In the movies, they always use women for bait
and it proves to be quite effective. Who knew that women are to be more
powerful than men?
I find Simone de
Beauvoir’s notion of sexual liberation very fascinating. I admired the way she
lived – very free. She explored her sexuality and enjoyed her life. Carpe diem
as they say. The thing is, most women are very timid. They get an awkward
feeling by just looking at their bodies naked, well some of them. As a matter of fact, this is how the society
dictated how a woman should react. As what Beauvoir said, society is unfair
to women, but women are still able to prove to the society their power and
ability to compete with the men. So what's the point of all this? Trust, I have no idea. Even though I am a girl, I am still a bit of a coward to living life the way I wanted it in my wildest dreams and fantasies. Maybe it's because I am too afraid to be deemed as a taboo person for society. Isn't that what most of us are afraid of?
