Malik 1

Revisiting the #MeToo Movement through the lens of Simone de Beauvoir’s

The Second Sex

Maha Malik (2021-09-0073)

POL 203: Western Political Philosophy

Ma’am Rabia Zaid

19th May 2018

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The #MeToo Movement has spiraled a firestorm of heated discussions on social media:

feminist commentators and activists have found themselves immersed in a never ending spiral of

debates surrounding definitions of essential terms like consent, assault, harassment and rape. They

“have seen the word ‘pleasure’ disentangled, and the word ‘inappropriate’ expanded”1. They have

discussed solidarity, empowerment, victimhood and power to reach the conclusion that for sexual

harassers, the time is up. Boundaries around consent and harassment have been subjected to

ongoing debates by #MeToo activists, leading them to reach a tacit consensus that a) on an

everyday basis, women experience instances of violence, abuse and harassment b) there is an

underlying problem that needs to be addressed c) this problem results from men wielding superior

power over women, especially at workplaces. The movement has made some primary gains

including public humiliation of harassers and getting abusers fired from prominent positions of

authority. In De Beauvoir’s perspective these solutions, even though regarded as the primary gains

of movement, only offer short term reliefs— they fail to attack the problem at grassroots level and

offer an unclear long term path. Public apologies given by those who have been accused are

insufficient and misdirected.

This essay is going to analyze the #MeToo Movement to challenge De Beauvoir’s ideas

and explain why women are still struggling to benefit from the change she sparked. It will further

chart out long term application of Simone’s ideas to make the #MeToo Movement a global success

in changing power dynamics. It will be divided in four parts. The first part will provide a literature

review of three main ideas presented by Simone her book, The Second Sex which were challenged

by and applied in the #MeToo Movement. In the second part of my essay, I will analyze the

1
Sacha Hilhorst and Michiel Zonneveld, "Simone De Beauvoir on #MeToo", The Medium, Medium, 7th March 2018.
Web. Accessed 16th May 2018.
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#MeToo movement and evaluate the questions it has raised. The third section will draw

comparisons between The Second Sex and the #MeToo Movement and will attempt to argue

whether the problems highlighted by the #MeToo Movement represent a hurdle towards the

achievement and successful change that De Beauvoir’s ideas (and second wave feminism) brought.

The last part will chart long term goals for the success of the Movement by lessons learned from

De Beauvoir’s ideas in The Second Sex.

PART I: LITERATURE REVIEW OF DE BEAUVOIR’S THE SECOND SEX

A 20th Century classic and a landmark in the history of feminism and female empowerment,

The Second Sex explains that “the world women live in is defined by and centered around men”2.

De Beauvoir’s primary thesis revolved around the idea that women’s oppression is a result of the

way they are characterized in the society as the ‘other’— portrayed as secondary, inferior,

mutilated, incomplete and inessential. For them to achieve freedom from this characterization, they

will have to free themselves from ingrained patterns of entrenched gender roles in traditions,

institutions, stories and religious decrees. “Throughout history man has posited himself as a

sovereign subject, a human being, and woman as his counterpart”3. The woman was commanded

around like she was an object in his service. This took away the notion that women exist

independently as a sex and be recognized fully as not only another human but also another

consciousness with the ability to make decisions. However, the bottom line remained that the

female consciousness was only allowed to develop as a reflection of a man’s, just enough to be

recognized but not fully enough to be regarded as a full human herself. With this realized, it is

2
Anne-Marie Slaughter, "Why Women Still Can’t Have It All". The Atlantic. Atlantic. July/August 2012. Accessed 17th
May 2018.
3
Ibid.
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easy to see why the #MeToo exposé did not register as a surprise as it reaffirmed “how often

women are expected [even now] to capitulate to men, by force if necessary”4.

There are three important themes that Simone refers to. The first comparison she makes is

between “socially passive ‘immanence’ of women to the socially active ‘transcendence’ of men”5

and uses this concept to retort to the essential query of “what is a woman?”. The concept of

immanence is used to describe “the historic domain assigned to women: a closed-off realm where

women are interior, passive, static, and immersed in themselves”6 while transcendence is

designated to represent the opposing male sex who extends to the external universe by being

powerful, productive, creative and active. De Beauvoir argues that in order to exist, the interplay

of both of these forces needs to be permitted, however, women have been denied to exercise the

transcendent role throughout history by men. The barriers that have been created are a result of

male monopoly over the transcendent role and what she refers to as the “praying mantis: women

being forced to relinquish their existential right to transcendence and accept circumscribed,

repetitive imprisonment”7. The only escape that they have is through their dependence on their

male counterparts, and even that is a dead end. Women suppress transcendent desires because they

fear social judgement and while a man is engaged in accomplishments, activities and projects the

woman just remains in passive social reality.

The second theme in her book revolves around the dilemma surrounding ‘nature’ and

‘nurture’. The claim that De Beauvoir makes is that “woman’s inferiority in society is a result not

4
Simone de Beauvoir, “The Second Sex”, Part V Chapter 6: Women’s Situation and Character, Vintage Books, 1997,
pp 612.
5
Betty Lou, "Throwing like a woman: The Power of ‘Femininity’", WordPress, WordPress, 9th July 2013. Web.
Accessed 17th May 2018.
6
Ibid, 619.
7
Ibid, 622.
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of natural differences but of differences in the upbringing of man and woman”8. Both women and

men are born equal. Hence, “male domination is not fated or inherent, but is rather conditioned”9

and instilled in the way that they are brought up. Similarly a woman is not assigned physiognomies

of mediocrity, immanence or passiveness at birth, but is nurtured to embody those characteristics

by being made to believe that it’s her only way of achieving acceptance and happiness. Skewed

perspectives if society around her forces her to deny the true self she is capable of becoming.

The last theme that De Beauvoir explores is reproduction vs. production. Primarily, women

are treasured and honored for their reproductive functions, it is difficult to reconcile this ability

with the productive capacity that she holds. The ‘female situation’ analyzes the problems that are

caused when a woman’s ability to give birth is exalted over her capacity to participate in economic

labor. The author argues that if we analyze these roles closely, we see that they are not mutually

exclusive. Historical analysis has shown a repeated pattern of women “being enslaved for their

reproductive capabilities, their lives to the present being an uninterrupted succession of

pregnancies and her contributions to society have been restricted to her womb”10. To confine the

role of a woman in the household, men have always portrayed their existence as serving purposes

of reproduction, defining her worth by her womb.

PART II: THE EVOLUTION OF #METOO MOVEMENT— AN IMPORTANT ASPECT

IN FEMINISM AND FEMALE EMPOWERMENT?

The #MeToo Movement became a worldwide phenomenon in 2017 and was successful in

shifting cultural narratives all around the globe. This developed as “a movement that dealt

8
Ibid, “Part I Chapter 4: Childhood”, 298.
9
Ibid, 299.
10
Lou, “Throwing like a woman”.
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specifically with sexual violence and provided a framework for taking necessary steps to put an

end to it”11. The #MeToo Movement had been around since 2006 when Tarana Burke started a

series of hashtags to share series of sexual violence on MySpace. This was “part of a grass root

campaign to promote empowerment through empathy for women who underwent sexual abuse in

underprivileged communities of color”12. However, during this time the movement had limited

scope and was not very widespread. In 2017, Actress Alyssa Milano shared a tweet and encourages

her followers to write ‘Me Too’ under her post if they have ever been harassed or sexually

assaulted. With 66,000 replies the hashtag began a global sensation on social media with hundreds

of thousands of women around the world using the hashtag to share their stories. It started gaining

national media attention when the famous Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein dominated the

headlines after being accused of harassment and sexual assault. This erupted a crusade within the

industry and started a larger conversation about what women have to silently go through in

workplaces, but their voices will not be suppressed anymore. The #MeToo represents that every

woman who goes through the ordeal of harassment and abuse is not alone— there are thousands

of women who have gone through the same and that they will not remain silent anymore. They

found strength in numbers as well as released the guilt and shame that usually surround victims of

abuse. The goal was to create a community of survivors that will not only promote ‘empowerment

through empathy’, but also “disrupt all systems that allow sexual violence to flourish”13.

It aimed to represent a wide variety of stakeholders. It represented women who have had it

with their co-workers and bosses who did not understand the concept of ‘boundaries’. They have

11
Alix Langone, "#MeToo and Time's Up Founders Explain the Difference between the 2 Movements", Time.com.
Time, 22nd March 2018. Web. Accessed 17th May 2018.
12
Cristela Guerra, "Where’d The "Me Too" Initiative Really Come From?", The Boston Globe, Bostonglobe.com, 17th
October 2017. Web. Accessed 17 May 2018.
13
Langone, "#MeToo and Time's Up Founders Explain the Difference between the 2 Movements".
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had it with the fear of being fired if they spoke up, of being blackballed and the distress of

retaliation. It spoke for those in the entertainment industry who had no one to go to because their

perpetrators were celebrities. It signified the end of men exploiting women just because they

wielded power. The revolution started by these silence breakers and their “collective anger spurred

immediate and shocking results: nearly every day, CEOs were fired, moguls toppled, icons

disgraced. In some cases, even criminal charges have been brought”14. These women were

separated by age, income, race, religion, family and ethnicity but brought together by years of

shared experiences of psychological and emotional fallout as a result of forced kisses,

opportunistic gropes, lewd comments and uncomfortable encounters. They believed in changing

the world through bringing these experiences in the limelight. Euphemisms used to describe sexual

harassment in polite companies shifted: ‘inappropriate behavior’ became ‘harassment’, ‘abuse’

became ‘rape’ and misconduct became ‘assault’. No longer were women willing to let soft words

describe painful, traumatizing experiences.

PART III: DE BEAUVIORS ADVOCACY FOR CHANGE vs. PROBLEMS

HIGHLIGHTED BY THE #METOO MOVEMENT— HAVE WE FAILED?

The #MeToo movement gave women a platform to vent out long-repressed feelings of

injustice that had to experience. The extent and numbers of responses that came out in the open

raised a lot of concerns about the supposed gains of “equality” made by women. In the 70 year

time period since second wave feminism and a debate driven by Simone de Beauvoir, women have

been successful in achieving serious changes in the society with regards to their roles in public

life, paid employment and legal status. But these gains did not mean that the patriarchy is shattered

14
Stephanie Zacharek, Eliana Dockterman and Haley Sweetland Edwards, "The Silence Breakers", The Time,
time.com. 2017. Web. Accessed 18th May 2018.
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and women oppression has subdued. In this section, I will be arguing how the problems highlighted

by the #MeToo Movement represent a hurdle towards the achievement and application of De

Beauvoir’s ideas. I will do so by linking the ideas presented in The Second Sex to different aspects

within the #MeToo Movement.

Firstly, the #MeToo Movement brought to the forefront a number of females who had faced

sexual abuse in workplaces including corporate sector, activism, entertainment industry, menial

jobs etc. De Beauvoir will classify this within the category of ‘productive’ roles taken up by

women, as opposed to the reproductive roles. In a setting where women are increasingly taking up

the roles of CEOs, managers, heads of department etc., it would not be unfair to expect that the

environment of these workplaces are made safe for them so that they can maximize their potential

and productivity to be profitable for the businesses. Such positions would also mean that women,

on a comparative, have more power since they are involved in decision making. But has this power

created essential cultural shifts to ensure that the world is no longer controlled and defined by men

and women are no longer regarded as the “second sex”?15 The intentions and achievements of the

second wave of feminism was not limited to promoting equality between men and women but also

extended to allow for changes that redefined what mattered, i.e. women were to no longer be seen

as reproductive or sexual objects. The #MeToo Movement provides us an eye-opening evidence

that we have failed to achieve power shifts that De Beauvoir advocated for. It shows that “if we

want to eradicate sexual harassment, first we have to solve inequality, because power imbalances

are at the root of harassment behavior”16. Even famous actresses and CEOs who were at the top of

15
Nadine Changfoot, "The Second Sex's Continued Relevance for Equality and Difference Feminisms". European
Journal Of Women's Studies Vol 16 (1), page 24.
16
Langone, "#MeToo and Time's Up Founders Explain the Difference between the 2 Movements".
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their careers were afraid to come in public and speak about such wrongdoings since their

perpetrators threatened them.

Secondly, the Movement highlighted the social inequality that exists as women who

undergo harassment and oppression have to constantly “fight a ubiquitous evil— the patriarchy—

and even by demanding public confessions of the guilty and public support for their cause, they

are seen as those at fault”17. The first aspect of this inequality is defined by De Beauvoir’s concept

of ‘nurture vs nature’. When women are nurtured in such a way that they are discouraged to speak

against their culprits, it creates a circular culture of women keeping silent and internalizing this

attitude displayed by men18. Most of the women who shared their stories wrote how they were

afraid of physical violence had they came out, and how they will then need a constant protection

by a male member of their family because they will come under the spotlight. When women are

nurtured to by fearful, tame and compliant— that is when they are freely made available for

exploitation and oppression. “Such nurturing is a symptom of a larger, systemic inequality and a

systemic pattern of exclusion for women and a lack of equilibrium in the power distribution in our

society”19. For us to counter harassment, we will need to step up with the way we nurture our

daughters. The second aspect of this inequality relates to transcendence, where females have to

uphold certain values if they want to be respected within the society. For the same things that men

are met with honor for, women face abandonment, demeaning remarks and judgement by the

society that they live in. Hence, most of the time women stay silent because they are concerned

17
Anna North, "The Controversy around Katie Roiphe Harper’s Essay On #MeToo". Vox News. Vox. 20th April 2018.
Web. Accessed 18th May 2018.
18
Zacharek, "The Silence Breakers".
19
Langone, "#MeToo and Time's Up Founders Explain the Difference between the 2 Movements"
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about what people will say and how their social image will be affected even when they are victims

of such abuses.

Another way that Simone’s ideas apply to the #MeToo Movement is by analyzing the role

of policy makers and application of policies. It is widely accepted that in order to ensure a safe

working environment for females, certain workplace policies have to be introduced criminalizing

harassment and abuse. The reason why there are not enough legislations and acts protecting women

against these threats is because the platform of policy making is male dominated, which ties in

with the theme of ‘transcendence’. Women are denied the opportunity to be a part of policy making

because their expertise is only seen in the household, and they are not deemed competent to devise

national level policies, even when it is about things concerning them. Their ‘nature’ is also seen

as unsuited to factor in all the variables needed to adopt policy reforms. Women often make up a

small minority in parliaments and legislative drafting bodies which not only mean that they do not

have strength in numbers to push for a change, but also that they are actively silenced out by the

dominance of males in this arena. Until women are viewed through the lens of incompetence, no

change will be brought that will fix power dynamics within our societies.

PART IV: CHARTING LONG-TERM GOALS OF #METOO MOVEMENT BY LESSONS

LEARNED FROM THE SECOND SEX

#MeToo’s achievement has been “to show that simmering beneath the surface of normality,

there is a very wide range of behaviors that had been routine and accepted, and that we no longer

accept. It is not a political movement but a normative movement, that is to say a movement whose

purpose and effect is to change the norms of behavior”20. The long term changes will not be

20
Lara Marlowe, "Eva Illouz: Sex, Power and the Behavior of Men". The Irish Times. Irish Times. 14th March 2018.
Web. Accessed 18th May 2018.
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achieved overnight, but will need to be worked towards by employing the civil society, feminist

movement and cultural agents of change. The first change that the #MeToo Movement, in support

with the Feminist Movement, should pursue is advocate for shifting power structures not via

charges or conciliation but through cultural change programs. Many influential men, heads of

organizations and celebrities have evaded punishment under the law and legal charges because

they could afford better and well trained lawyers, could buy out victims, threaten and silence them

as well as use their fan-following advantage to evade allegations21. Even in cases where these

influential avenues were not used, the victims were stripped of confidentiality and this process

proved to have damaging effects on their psychological health. They were shamed and questioned

even when they won their cases. To achieve a social change, and shift structures of power in favor

of women, activists need to account for these hurdles. Legal changes will not achieve real gender

equality. Embedded structures and traditions which are “responsible for supporting toxic

masculinity and strengthening male power need to be done away with”22.

Secondly, the kind of political environment also makes a lot of difference of how power

structures will evolve, and to what extent policies and legislations to protect women will come in

place. With the election of Donald Trump as the President of United States— a misogynist lacking

any empathy for such issues will mean that female empowerment will not be top legislative

priority. “At least 19 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct, but it seemed to have

zero impact on his political base and even today, 57 per cent of white American women support

him”23. Feminist activists also need to research on the underlying causes of why women still

21
Zacharek, "The Silence Breakers".
22
Tom Grimwood, "Re-Reading the Second Sex's ‘Simone De Beauvoir’", British Journal for the History of Philosophy,
Vol 16 (1), page 209.
23
Marlowe, "Eva Illouz: Sex, Power and the Behavior of Men".
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support those who are hurting their cause, and include as many allies as possible to achieve the

goals that De Beauvoir laid in her book, that of women no longer being defined by actions of men.

They can no longer be at the mercy of those who have denied her any voice in the first place.

Thirdly, “for change to happen men and women need to examine their behavior, especially

men who should think carefully and remember to treat women as they want to be treated

themselves”24. Cultural and structural causes of gender-based abuse of power needs to be seriously

accounted for which has its beginning in the route of primary socialization that children take.

Societal acceptance of basic gender norms and roles for a boy and a girl need to be reevaluated

and paths to passive femininity and toxic masculinity need to be abandoned. Change has to begin

from home and be extended at schools, in playgrounds, family gatherings as well as other social

settings where behavioral distinction starts being drawn of what is acceptable for what gender.

“Actions must change, and for that, we need men, who are usually the perpetrators, to become

engaged in their own effort to learn and grow and become more humane”25.

In conclusion, it is important that the contemporary feminist movement realizes that in

order to battle the hurdles that Simone pointed out, legislative change will not be enough even if

it brings about a certain degree of progress and success. This is reiterated by the problems and

experiences brought forward in the public eye by the #MeToo Movement that even though women

are increasingly occupying public spaces and stepping into productive roles, they are still not being

provided with the freedom and opportunity that they deserve. For women to no longer seen as the

‘other’ or regarded as an inferior sex or be barricaded by male power and privilege there needs to

be shifts in power dynamics, redefinition of gender roles and change in perceptions promoted by

24
"The Next Step for the #MeToo Movement". ISD Editorial Board. Iowa State Daily. 20th March 2018. Web.
Accessed 17th May 2018.
25
"The Next Step for the #MeToo Movement". ISD Editorial Board.
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the society. De Beauvoir’s ideas and theories that she highlighted in her book regarding the

situation of women allow us to have a better understanding of repeated patterns of abuse and

oppression.

(Word count: 3698)

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Movements". Time. Time.com. 22nd March 2018. Web. Accessed 17th May 2018.
 Malik 15

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1.3419527>.

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36534e-2c8d-11e8-a64c-1fe908a2620b.html>.

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