Extended Essays 2021

Uniselfism for Gender Equality - htlo45

Thus, the philosophical dilemma is how gender inequality became ingrained in society. If the

problem is understood, then the corollary is how can a solution be theorised and implemented

for the benefit of woman. I postulate that only after addressing these ‘tectonic’ issues can the

problem of gender bias be addressed. My methodology is therefore dialectical in that I critically

evaluate Simone de Beauvoir and Michel Foucault ’s theories to seek a synthesis. Thus, the

scope of the analysis is from the ‘ Subject ’ and the ‘ Other ’ in Beauvoir ’s The Second Sex (1949)

to Foucault’s discourse theory in Power: The Essential Works of Michel Foucault (2020), a

collection of articles, lectures and interviews focused on power discourses in society. This

comparative evaluation is designed to ‘leverage’ a solution for inequities in female leadership.

A Dialectical Approach - the philosophical theories

Beauvoir is a founding figure in contemporary philosophical feminism. The Second Sex aims

to define ‘woman’ and establish a solution to gender inequality. In accepting the reality of the

sexual difference, Beauvoir exposes the masculine ideological exploits of this. In doing so, she

claims that it is society that has established “ He is the Subject; he is the Absolute. She is the

Other ”. 6 Women, as being the Other, live as non-agent beings with an identity imposed on

them by men to suit their own interests. Hereby, women are defined as the second sex, which

is man’s passive and dependent counterpart. Beauvoir attempts to establish the masculine

subject as the absolute human type. A liberated woman, to Beauvoir, must free herself from

the shackles to be independent, like men. 7 For gender equality to exist and for women to have

equal representation, social othering must be eliminated for women to assume an identity which

6 Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex trans. Constance Borde and Shelia Malovany-Chevallier (London: Penguin Books, 2011), 43. 7 Beauvoir, The Second Sex , 43.

November 2021

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