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“Woman” by Simone De Beauvoirs and “That Black Word” by Langston Hughes

Simone de Beauvoirs’ “Woman” is an endless tirade of words and phrases used by Beauvoir in a unique way. She realizes how the essence of a woman is defined by the man. Condescending and animal terms used by men to describe a woman are offensive.

According to the Reader’s Digest Encyclopedia/Dictionary, a woman is defined as: “…an adult human being; someone who is effeminate, timid, or weak; a female attendant; a servant; a mistress or mistress kept.” On the other hand, this same dictionary defines man as: “…an adult human being; a genuine male; a husband or lover; he has exceptional brain development and the ability to articulate speech”. The only similarity between these two definitions is the term “an adult human being.”

Has Beauvoir echoed the sentiments of a woman’s social image? Is it to be believed that, by definition, a woman is and has always been subordinate to a man?

If we are to believe that a woman’s primary role is to meet the needs of the man, then we are indeed “handmaidens” to him. So too, if the definition of woman can be easily explained as a biological phenomenon, then by what standards should we define man? If the word female evokes visions of primordial behavior, then the male species must be held accountable for his role as “king of beasts.”

By comparison, Langston Hughes’ “That Word Black” takes a different approach to the same problem. Written in the 1940s, Hughes’s essay features Jesse B. Simple, a black man who is outraged by the rise of a new language. This new language, whose roots derive from racism, uses the word “black” to denote a negative meaning to certain words such as: “blacklist”, “blackmail” and “black sheep”.

What do these words really mean? “Blacklist”, for example, is a list of bad people. “Blackmail” was defined as “black”, meaning evil, and “mail”, meaning “money”. “Black Hand” as used to describe terrorists and literally means “evil power”. The “Black Death” was a disease that killed millions of people in Europe and Asia 600 years ago.

Can anyone, therefore, deny the validity of Mr. Simple’s statement that “according to white people, black is bad”? In response to Mr. Simple’s question: “What’s wrong with black?” The answer is nothing. However, something is wrong with those who cannot see beyond.