Readings of the second sex of Simone de Beauvoir

El segundo sexo de Simone de Beauvoir, publicado en 1947, es hoy un clásico del feminismo que se sigue leyendo. En el artículo se analiza la historia de este libro; el contexto intelectual que lo inspiró, los trazos esenciales de su pensamiento y la recepción; el escándalo que produjo su aparición, en Francia, los ecos en España y las lecturas posteriores del libro. "No se nace mujer; se llega a serlo", la conocida frase que el feminismo haría suya, en los años setenta, resume bien el valor, epistemológico y político, de un libro que, aún hoy, sirve de inspiración para pensar el devenir de las mujeresSimone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, published in 1974 became a classic book and is still being read nowadays. This Essay analyses the history of this book; the intellectual context it was inspired from, its essential line of thinking and how was it welcome from readers; also the shock it meant when it was first published in France, its echoes in Spain and the subsequent readings. The famous sentence 'You are not born a woman, you become a woman', which was endorsed by Feminism in the 1970's, summarizes well the political and epistemological value of a book that, even today, inspires to think about the future of womenFil: Morant, Isabel. Universidad de Valencia