Essay --

Critical analysis â€Å"A man would never set out to write a book on the peculiar situation of the human male. But if I wish to define myself I must first of all say: ‘I am a woman’; on this truth must be based all further discussion. A man never being by presenting himself as an individual of a certain sex; it goes without saying that he is a man. The terms masculine and feminine are used symmetrically only as a matter of form, as on legal papers. In actuality the relation of the two sexes is not quite like that of two electrical poles, for man represents both the positive and the neutral, as is indicated by the common use of man to designate human beings in general; whereas woman represents only the negative, defined by limiting criteria, without reciprocity†¦.Thus humanity is male and man defines woman not in herself but as relative to him; she is not regarded as an autonomous being †¦He is the Subject, he is the Absolute- she is the Other†. This pie ce of writing is taken from the book ‘Y: The Descent of Men’ by Steve Jones published in 2002, Little, Brown. This was written originally by de Beauvoir in The Second Sex, that is later elaborated both in the context and the meaning by Jones. The historical context of the writing follows the academic feminism as an interdisciplinary proposition that is deep rooted in a sort of â€Å"political reality that challenges confinement to one particular discipline†. Consequently, philosophies and principles â€Å"which developed from the 1960s onwards were shared as feminist philosophers, historians, literary therorists, anthropologists, sociologists, cultural theorists and others, engaged in a project that had a common political background – to take action against women's subordination. The genesis of fe... ...of the 1970s and early 1980s. In anthropology this concept has never lost its value, as many societies do not allow unfamiliar men to interact with their women†. Endnotes Y: The Descent of Men by Steve Jones2002, Little, Brown. Reviewed by D. M. Procida Human Nature Review 3 (2003) 67-71, Available at http://human-nature.com/nibbs/03/sjones.html, Accessed 10/05/03 Peggy Reeves Sanday / Ruth G. Goodenough (eds.) (1990): Beyond the Second Sex. New Directions in the Anthropology of Gender. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Heidi Armbruster (2000) Feminist Theories and Anthropology, Available at http://www.polylog.org/lit/1.2/re2-en.htm, Accessed 10/05/03 Rayna Reiter (ed.) (1975): Toward an Anthropology of Women. New York: Monthly Review Press. Michelle Z. Rosaldo / L. Lamphere (1974): Woman, Culture, and Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press.