De Beauvoir's Theory Of Gender Equality

De Beauvoir’s central argument revolved around the concept of womanhood and femininity as fixed identities that are associated with not only with one being a female, but also with women representing the “other” in a society that was first and foremost divided based on the biological differences between the sexes. De Beauvoir argued that while Blacks, Jews, and the proletariat are also classified as the other, as are women, a part of that classification is due to the numbers of these minority groups compared to those in power. On the other hand, women represent half of the population, and yet, they historically lacked power.
This division transformed itself into norms and values that are not only imposed on women by men, but also by women on themselves. As a result, even though women represent half of the population, they remain a minority due to the power hegemony of the elite (men). De Beauvoir argued that in many cases women – and this applies to other minorities as well— can represent the biggest obstacle that faces the move towards ending that level of separation. This is due to women lacking the concrete means to organize themselves into a front that can counter those in power, and women are divided among themselves based on class, race, nationality, etc., while seeking to imitate men.
Firestone, on the other hand, has argued that the biological and social factors that created the separation between women and men in

However, she used their theoretical framework to explain the sources of separation between the sexes. For example, Levi Strauss had emphasized the principle of kinship, where women are subordinate to men, as a product of economic discrimination and separation of sex and