Simone de Beauvoir and the Philosophy of Liberation

By Agneya Veer Dhingra 29th March 2025

“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.”With this one sentence, Simone de Beauvoir shattered centuries of biological essentialism and laid the foundations for modern feminism. But her legacy goes far beyond gender theory. De Beauvoir was a philosopher of freedom, ambiguity, and authenticity — a thinker who dared to question every “given” in a world that prefers comfortable illusions.

Her work continues to provoke and inspire, especially in a time when conversations about identity, freedom, and responsibility are more complex — and contested — than ever.

I. The Existentialist Frame: Freedom, Anguish, and Ambiguity

Simone de Beauvoir was closely associated with existentialism, the 20th-century philosophical movement that emphasized individual freedom and the responsibility of choice in an absurd, indifferent world. Like Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, she rejected the idea of preordained meaning. But unlike them, she was more attentive to how structures of power and identity shaped our ability to choose.

Existentialists believed that “existence precedes essence” — that we are not born with a fixed purpose or identity, but must create it through our actions. De Beauvoir took this insight and turned it inward. What happens when you're born into a world that already defines you before you've acted? What happens when your freedom is constrained by others' expectations — especially if you're born female?

II. The Second Sex: Women as “The Other”

Published in 1949, The Second Sex remains one of the most influential and controversial works of feminist philosophy. In it, de Beauvoir asks a deceptively simple question: What is a woman? The answer, she shows, is not biological but socially constructed. Woman is defined not as a subject in her own right, but as “Other” — as the opposite of man, the deviation from the norm.

This insight was revolutionary. De Beauvoir demonstrated that femininity isn’t an essence or destiny, but something imposed and internalized. Girls aren’t born submissive or emotional or domestic — they are taught to be so through family, education, religion, and media. And because these roles are presented as natural, many women don’t even realize the extent of their social conditioning.

But this wasn’t a work of victimhood. De Beauvoir insisted that women, like all human beings, were free — and therefore responsible. Freedom, in existentialist terms, isn’t about doing whatever you want; it’s about recognizing that you are the author of your actions and that you cannot escape this responsibility. Even accepting subordination is itself a choice — though one shaped by fear, comfort, and social pressure.

III. Freedom in a Compromised World

Unlike Sartre, who sometimes painted freedom in absolute, heroic terms, de Beauvoir was more interested in the messy middle ground. Her 1947 work The Ethics of Ambiguity tackles a key question: How do we live ethically when freedom is not evenly distributed? What does it mean to be free in a world full of oppression, inequality, and bad faith?

De Beauvoir’s answer is subtle and humane. Freedom, she argues, is relational — we are not free alone, but only when others are free too. Therefore, ethical living means working to expand the conditions under which others can exercise their freedom. Liberation is not a solo pursuit, but a shared responsibility.

This idea resonates deeply in today’s politics, where conversations about privilege, systemic barriers, and intersectionality dominate. De Beauvoir gives us a framework to understand how structural oppression can limit agency — without giving up the idea of personal responsibility. That balance remains rare, and radical.

IV. Relevance Today: Gender, Identity, and Becoming

De Beauvoir’s ideas have rippled through decades of thought on gender and identity. Her notion that we “become” our identities anticipates modern theories of performativity, most notably Judith Butler’s work on gender as repeated acts. The idea that gender is not something we are, but something we do, owes a great deal to de Beauvoir.

Her writing also feels eerily relevant in an age of online identities, curated selves, and algorithmic desires. What does it mean to be authentic when our sense of self is constantly shaped and reflected through the digital gaze of others? In a world of filters and feeds, de Beauvoir reminds us: Becoming is never passive — even if we’d like to pretend it is.

And beyond gender, her vision of existential freedom applies to any situation where people are marginalized, othered, or denied agency. Whether the issue is class, race, sexuality, or ability, the struggle for liberation always involves two sides: the tearing down of imposed definitions and the construction of new, self-authored identities.

V. The Burden and Beauty of Becoming

Simone de Beauvoir doesn’t offer easy answers. She tells us that life is ambiguous, freedom is frightening, and the truth can be hard to bear. But she also offers something rare and powerful: a philosophy of becoming — one that recognizes both the constraints we inherit and the freedom we still possess.

To be human, in her view, is not to arrive at a fixed identity, but to continually choose, create, and engage — even when the path is unclear. This is the ultimate existential task: to become what we are, in full awareness of the risks, the contradictions, and the responsibility.

Her work remains a call to awareness — not just of injustice, but of possibility. In a world that still tries to define people before they can define themselves, de Beauvoir reminds us that liberation is always unfinished — and always worth pursuing.