Class 19 - Gender and the idea of the Other
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In this session, we’re going to explore the relationship between gender and ideas of otherness. And we’re going to explore the idea of woman as inherently Other — an idea associated with the French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, and her book The Second Sex.
Beauvoir is an existentialist, so if you have studied existentialism, you will know some of the background. Let’s have a quick pop-quiz. Answers in the chat.
- What is existentialism?
- Who are some famous existentialists you have studied?
- What were their main ideas?
Today’s session
In her book, Beauvoir asks the following question: what is a woman? So to get started, we are going to do a writing exercise, responding to this very question. Then we’re going to ask what is a man?
Writing exercise
What is a woman? Write in response to this question for 5 minutes. What is a man? Write in response to this question for 5 minutes.
Popcorn reading.
Discussion
In your groups, discuss these two questions.
- What is a woman, and what is a man?
- What problems do we encounter when we seek to answer these question?
You have 15 minutes. At the end we’ll feed back from your groups, and discuss these two questions together.
About Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir was one of the most significant European thinkers of the 20th century. We’re going to watch a short video of her being interviewed about her work, so we can get a sense her in person.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aekr9sLbVhQ
What is a woman?
Now we’re going to read Beauvoir’s own answer to this question “What is a woman?” We’ll read the passage from her book The Second Sex together. Then I’ll put you into breakout groups to discuss.
We’ll read from the top of page 5, where Beauvoir beings “What is a woman?”, and we’ll read on to the end of the paragraph on page 7 where Beauvoir says “it asserts itself as the essential and sets up the other as inessential, as the object”
Breakout Groups
In your breakout groups, I want you to explore the argument on this page and a half, and explore the following simple (!) questions.
- What is Beauvoir’s argument?
- Is she right? What evidence is there to support her claims?
When we get some feedback, we’ll then look through this dense few pages together, and see if we can make sense of the argument.
Homework:
For your homework, we’re going to move on to thinking about women, men and otherness in a Burmese / Myanmar context. So for next time, please read Our Htamein, Our Flag, Our Victory: The Role of Young Women in Myanmar’s Spring Revolution by Marlar, Justine Chambers and Elena. Journal of Burma Studies, Volume 27, Number 1, June 2023, pp. 65-99 (Article)