The Second Sex

I read this book at the advent of women's history month after years of Tbr-ing it. My primary reason for the lack of enthusiasm for reading this was that it is too old and maybe the proposals and scenarios mentioned here would be drastically different than this 21st-century world but to my surprise, they weren't exaggerated and the topics mentioned in every chapter still hold relevance to this age which makes me think even if we have progressed so much in terms of wealth distribution, educational opportunities and technology how much unjust discrimination and scorn are still prevalent in the depth of the human mind. How we are still fighting against prejudice, hypocrisy, stereotype and the eternal case of making us the ‘other' party who has no place other than the shadow of the ‘superior' sex, the marginalised group who are still considered competitors and not someone who has equal rights to the fairer sex.

Especially the first half of the book mindblown me and made me think deeply about things like the deeply flawed logic of misogyny and how a sexist mindset deeply affects all the people of our society especially harms the marginalised section of our society. I was also fascinated by how volatile the sexist parameters are and how they changed in terms of human conclusions like how Virginal blood is considered to be harmful to male virility and brides were being deflowered before she was officially wed. At some point(and it still prevails), these perceptions and conclusions changed and how virginal maidens are considered pure and worthy of their male counterpart My favourite parts of this book are vol 1 part 1 chapter 1 biological data, vol 1 part 2 history, vol 1 part 3 myths chapter 1.
p.s- Gonna throw the second sex at someone's face(metaphorically!!) the next time I debate with someone on misogyny.
4.5 stars/ 5 stars