The great feminist and philosopher of French existentialism Simone de Beauvoir remains to this day one of the symbolic women of contemporary feminism. In this essay in Italian, published by ProMosaik LAPH, focusing on Simone de Beauvoir's minor work, entitled L'Invitée, the author Julia Profanter focuses on the close link existing between literature and life and the strong autobiographical imprint of de Beauvoir's work. I talked to the author about her essay.
Simone de Beauvoir in Saint-Germain-des-Prés c. 1946. 'L'invitée' was published in 1943, the English translation in 1949
Why did you choose to write this essay precisely on this work by Simone de Beauvoir?
Before starting the creative and research process on my final paper, I only knew Simone de Beauvoir's most famous work, Le deuxième sexe. During my research I discovered the author's first (relatively unknown) book, L 'Invitée [eng. ‘She Came To Stay’], which fascinated me from the very beginning. The aspect which really struck me was the subject of feminism and the liberation of the female gender in general on the one hand, and the parallels between the novel and the impressive life of the author on the other hand. Once I opened L'Invitée I could no longer put it down and felt an irrepressible urge to sift through the author's life in connection with her first novel.
What can we learn today from Simone's feminism and what are its limitations?
Simone de Beauvoir's vision was a self-confident, autonomous, and strong woman, unimpressed by the domination of the male gender and freed from the role attributed to women for centuries, namely marriage, motherhood̀ and family. In my opinion this vision, especially the principle "I, as a woman *, can do and become whatever I want to" is an inspiration and a fundamental concept of feminism which should be especially taught and preached to young girls and women. De Beauvoir's appeal to women not to accept subordination to men is just as important and recent as it was 60 years ago.
However, there is a limitation in Simone's feminism. My critique of Simone de Beauvoir's feminism is that at times it seems that she doesn't leave any room for women who are "not as emancipated as she is". Even in L 'Invitée she only represents “strong and independent” women what in my opinion does not reflect the reality - neither of the 1940s nor of our times. My vision of feminism is a kind of feminism welcoming all women: women who consider themselves completely autonomous/emancipated, women who are still in their development phase and who are slowly approaching the issues of feminism, and women who have never had anything to do with it but would like to take an interest in it, etc. Consequently, what I personally support is a feminism addressed to all women and not just to those who have already become feminists.
What relationship do you see between feminism and existentialism?
To change the patriarchal structures and put an end to the domination of the male gender, we must first of all realize the subliminal oppression and the patriarchal mechanisms to which we are accustomed without sometimes even noticing them at first glance. Awareness and subjective reflection open eyes and make people take responsibility for their own life and, at best, for the lives of others as well by striving for feminism and gender equality.
Which is the relationship existing in your opinion between feminism and freedom?
Feminism is closely linked to the concept of freedom since it is a fact that the emancipation of women implies different forms of freedom for which feminism has been struggling for so many years now. To begin with freedom means sexual freedom, the freedom of choice, the freedom to work without the husband's permission, the freedom to choose whether you want to become a mother or not. Nowadays in my opinion, feminism means the freedom to break traditional behaviours and roles, to remove stigma from certain concepts by normalising other ones - although I now say this in a very privileged position, while there are other women all over the world still struggling for their basic rights as women.
How to live feminism in this era of biofascism and prevailing ethnocentrism and militarism?
In my opinion it is very important to understand and accept that there are different ways of living feminism and that yours is not necessarily the "right" one as it is simply the one you have chosen. Other people experience feminism differently, perhaps in small steps, perhaps it is even invisible to your eyes - but the important thing is to connect, to support each other, without judging other women. Only if we are united, we will be able to fight the new trends of the time threatening what we have accomplished so far.
In what direction do you think we could explore issues like the one you focus on in this essay?
Feminism needs to be deepened towards ALL directions. Communication, exchange, support, empathy, and a lot of patience will make us discover unexpected directions. New areas of feminism, new inputs, new ideas, new challenges, new forces.
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