Full Idea
One is not born, but rather becomes a woman.
Gist of Idea
One is not born, but rather becomes a woman
Source
Simone de Beauvoir (The Second Sex [1952], p.301 (or 267)), quoted by Kevin Aho - Existentialism: an introduction 2 'Phenomenology'
Book Reference
Aho,Kevin: 'Existentialism: an introduction' [Polity 2014], p.31
A Reaction
This has become the principle idea in modern discussions of gender. It divides gender from sex, rather as Locke divided person from human being. It is an abstraction. It is part of the Hegelian-Marxist idea that persons are moulded by culture.