Simone de Beauvoir Quotes

One is not born a woman, but becomes one.

What does it mean, being a woman?

Men were only made into 'men' with great difficulty even in primitive society: the male is not naturally 'a man' any more than the woman. He has to be propped up into that position with some ingenuity, and is always likely to collapse.

I think we're socialized out of being women, and then we have to find our way back to it. That's hard to do.

I wanted to be a boy when I was young because boys got to do all the good stuff. So I became very aggressive and very competitive at a young age.

Once upon a time, growing up male gave little boys a sense of certainty about the natural order of things. We had short hair, wore pants, and played baseball. Girls had long hair, wore skirts, and, no matter how hard they tried, always threw a baseball just like a girl.

I grew up with a lot of boys. I probably have a lot of testosterone for a woman.

I was raised to be a girl Michelangelo.

Boys will be boys. And even that wouldn't matter if only we could prevent girls from being girls.

In our civilization, men are afraid that they will not be men enough and women are afraid that they might be considered only women.

Most men are very attached to the idea of being male, and usually experience a lot of fear and insecurity around the idea of being a man. Most women are very identified with their gender, and also experience a tremendous amount of fear and insecurity.

Parenting girls makes you quite gender-conscious - it's almost impossible to fight the power of pink. It's not such a terrible thing to want to be a princess when you're five, but it would be nice if there were some other options.

I feel like I think like a woman because I grew up with my mother and my sister, so I've just been programmed to think like a girl.

I have never felt oppressed by women or that feminism is a problem. I do think boys find it hard to like things seen as feminine. I want my son not to feel self-conscious he likes ballet and my daughter to carry on playing Han Solo; that's all.

All my life I've always been so ashamed of being feminine.

My parents never told me, 'You're supposed to wear pink,' or 'You're meant to do this because you're a girl.'

On ne na:"t pas femme: on le devient. One is not born a woman: one becomes a woman.

Behind all their personal vanity, women themselves always have an impersonal contempt for woman.

This idea that males are physically aggressive and females are not has distinct drawbacks for both sexes.

I felt alien my whole life, but I didn't feel alien because of my gender. Other people made me aware of my gender.

As I get older I think, contrary to modern assumption but in line with the old Lerner and Lowe song, that it would actually benefit both them and society if - to quote Professor Higgins - a woman could be more like a man.

A woman should be an illusion.

I think the fallacy is to think that Women's Liberation meant that men and women would become interchangeable. That has not happened, and most men and women would not want it to happen.

You think that being a girl is degrading, but secretly, you'd love to know what it's like, wouldn't you?

I have a few girlfriends, but nearly all my friends are guys. I don't think I ever wore girl clothes. I wore baggy jeans, baggy T-shirts, sweaters, just to avoid the looks that everyone gives you when you're a young female in the world.