--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If her functioning as a female is not…" description: "\"If her functioning as a female is not enough to define woman, if we decline also to explain her through \"the eternal feminine,\" and if nevertheless we ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ff/simone-de-beauvoir-407_decline_if-her-functioning-as-a-female-is-not-en_747626.jpg" --- # If her functioning as a female is not enough to define… ![“If her functioning as a female is not enough to define woman, if we decline also to explain her through "the eternal feminine," and if nevertheless we admit, provisionally, that women do exist, then we must face the question: what is a woman?” quote by Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ff/simone-de-beauvoir-407_decline_if-her-functioning-as-a-female-is-not-en_747626.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ff/simone-de-beauvoir-407_decline_if-her-functioning-as-a-female-is-not-en_747626.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ff/simone-de-beauvoir-407_decline_if-her-functioning-as-a-female-is-not-en_747626.jpg) > “If her functioning as a female is not enough to define woman, if we decline also to explain her through "the eternal feminine," and if nevertheless we admit, provisionally, that women do exist, then we must face the question: what is a woman?” [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote challenges essentialist definitions of woman, urging a view of gender as socially constructed and fluid. **In simple terms:** Gender is not fixed; it’s shaped by culture and experience. Key Takeaway Recognize gender as a spectrum, not a binary. Themes gender identity philosophy feminism social constructs Mood thoughtful critical inquisitive Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - academic discussion - activism - personal reflection - policy making Key Concepts existentialism social constructionism Questions to Reflect On - How do cultural expectations shape gender identity? - Can gender be fully defined by society? A Different Perspective It may overlook biological aspects that some consider relevant. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Decline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/) [Define Woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/define-woman-252425/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal/) [Eternal Feminine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal-feminine-273867/) [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female/) [Feminine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminine/) [Feminine Admit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminine-admit-5822523/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Nevertheless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nevertheless/) [Question Woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/question-woman-405177/) [Women Exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-exist-1046382/) ## Related quotes > [“There is so much beauty in different women – thin, big, normal, tall, short, medium, long hair, short hair, etc. Only narrow-mindedness can define…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-d-gonsalves/there-is-so-much-beauty-in-different-women-thin-big-normal-tall-short/) [Gloria D. Gonsalves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-d-gonsalves/) > [The fact is, I can have any experience of life I want. I don't have to choose any one thing or act in any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-sheedy/the-fact-is-i-can-have-any-experience-of-life-i-want-i-don-t-have-to/) [Ally Sheedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-sheedy/) > [Suffering should not define you as a woman! And just because you’re a man it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t affect you! HELP HER…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sarandon/suffering-should-not-define-you-as-a-woman-and-just-because-you-re-a-2/) [Susan Sarandon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sarandon/) > [Contraception doesn't define a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-haley/contraception-doesn-t-define-a-woman/) [Nikki Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-haley/) > [I like men..but I don't need one to define me. Any woman who wants to define herself, by herself and for herself just has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/queen-latifah/i-like-men-but-i-don-t-need-one-to-define-me-any-woman-who-wants-to/) [Queen Latifah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/queen-latifah/) > [Women are socially disadvantaged in controlling sexual access to their bodies through socialization to customs that define a woman's body as for sexual use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/women-are-socially-disadvantaged-in-controlling-sexual-access-to/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [“At certain times I have no race. I am me. I belong to no race or time. I am the eternal feminine with its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zora-neale-hurston/at-certain-times-i-have-no-race-i-am-me-i-belong-to-no-race-or-time-i/) [ZORA NEALE HURSTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zora-neale-hurston/) > [She succumbed to the eternal feminine passion for bargains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgette-heyer/she-succumbed-to-the-eternal-feminine-passion-for-bargains/) [Georgette Heyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgette-heyer/) > [The time has come for us to understand that the Eternal Feminine is the greatest power in this Universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samael-aun-weor/the-time-has-come-for-us-to-understand-that-the-eternal-feminine-is/) [Samael Aun Weor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samael-aun-weor/) > [I belong to no race nor time. I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zora-neale-hurston/i-belong-to-no-race-nor-time-i-am-the-eternal-feminine-with-its/) [Zora Neale Hurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zora-neale-hurston/) > [ The eternal feminine doth draw us upward. \[Ger., Das Ewig-Weibliche zieht uns hinan.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-eternal-feminine-doth-draw-us-upward-ger-das-ewig-weibliche-zieht/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The eternal feminine draws us on high.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-eternal-feminine-draws-us-on-high/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The Woman, the Eternal Feminine envelops with her gaze of light the entire planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samael-aun-weor/the-woman-the-eternal-feminine-envelops-with-her-gaze-of-light-the/) [Samael Aun Weor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samael-aun-weor/) > [“All that must disappear Is but a parable; What lay beyond us, here All is made visible; Here deeds have understood Words they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-that-must-disappear-is-but-a-parable-what-lay-beyond-us-here-all/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“Why do you want to talk to me?” I ask, stalling for time. It’s a reasonable question. Any woman in this situation would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-zaires/why-do-you-want-to-talk-to-me-i-ask-stalling-for-time-it-s-a/) [Anna Zaires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-zaires/) ## More by Simone de Beauvoir > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/one-is-not-born-a-genius-one-becomes-a-genius-and-the-feminine/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Many things would be changed for Americans if they would only admit that there is ill-luck in this world and that misfortune is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/many-things-would-be-changed-for-americans-if-they-would-only-admit/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“You said something very true the other day: that for us, nudity begins with the face.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/you-said-something-very-true-the-other-day-that-for-us-nudity-begins/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“Ženama se ne rađamo, nego postajemo”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/enama-se-ne-ra-amo-nego-postajemo/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Life is occupied in both perpetuating itself and in surpassing itself; if all it does is maintain itself, then living is only not dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/life-is-occupied-in-both-perpetuating-itself-and-in-surpassing-itself/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Fathers never have exactly the daughters they want because they invent a notion a them that the daughters have to conform to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/fathers-never-have-exactly-the-daughters-they-want-because-they/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [However gifted an individual is at the outset, if his or her talents cannot be developed because of his or her social condition, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/however-gifted-an-individual-is-at-the-outset-if-his-or-her-talents/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [In fact, people seem to be tired of fiction now. There are so many other ways of exploring humanity - by ethnology, psychoanalysis, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/in-fact-people-seem-to-be-tired-of-fiction-now-there-are-so-many/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Feminism is one way of attacking society as it now exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/feminism-is-one-way-of-attacking-society-as-it-now-exists/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“Magari mi troverai ridicola, ma mi disprezzerei se non osassi esserlo mai”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/magari-mi-troverai-ridicola-ma-mi-disprezzerei-se-non-osassi-esserlo/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [from one minute to the next the present is merely an honorary past. It must be filled unceasingly anew to dissemble the curse it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/from-one-minute-to-the-next-the-present-is-merely-an-honorary-past-it/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [I am awfully greedy; I want everything from life. I want to be a woman and to be a man, to have many friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/i-am-awfully-greedy-i-want-everything-from-life-i-want-to-be-a-woman/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“I enjoyed my exhaustion, though; I liked overdoing things”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/i-enjoyed-my-exhaustion-though-i-liked-overdoing-things/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“But I miss you to the point of anguish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/but-i-miss-you-to-the-point-of-anguish/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) [Explore all 488 Simone de Beauvoir quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) ## More Decline quotes > [Among the many factors that make a return to halcyon days of the first decades of the postwar era virtually impossible is the decline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gilpin/among-the-many-factors-that-make-a-return-to-halcyon-days-of-the/) [Robert Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gilpin/) > [When a man imagines, even after years of striving, that he has attained perfection, his decline begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-martin/when-a-man-imagines-even-after-years-of-striving-that-he-has-attained/) [Theodore Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-martin/) > [Low levels of vitamin D in the population as a whole suggest that most people need to take a vitamin D supplement. This may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-weil/low-levels-of-vitamin-d-in-the-population-as-a-whole-suggest-that/) [Andrew Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-weil/) > [The challenge is either to build an economy that is sustainable or to stay with our unsustainable economy until it declines. It is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/the-challenge-is-either-to-build-an-economy-that-is-sustainable-or-to/) [Lester R. 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