Past Her Prime? Simone de Beauvoir on Motherhood and Old Age

Katherine Kirkpatrick

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Despite her reputation as the ‘Mother’ of second-wave feminism, Simone de Beauvoir is not usually heralded as a mother-friendly feminist. In The Second Sex, the passages dedicated to the female body—and especially the pregnant female body—have been dismissed as unfortunate expressions of internalized patriarchy or personal idiosyncrasy. By comparing Beauvoir’s later analysis of old age to aspects of the experience of pregnancy and early motherhood, this essay suggests that Beauvoir’s later work Old Age offers a rich untapped resource for understanding her thinking on maternity.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)275-287
Number of pages13
JournalSophia: International Journal of Philosophy and Traditions
Volume53
Issue number2
Early online date29 Mar 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Jun 2014

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