growing up “the good girl”: reflections after reading The Second Sex
Growing up, I was taught to be “the good girl.” Quiet, polite, unambitious. To smile when uncomfortable, to avoid rocking the boat.
Reading Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex made me realize these lessons weren’t just about manners — they were rules designed to shape and control women’s lives.
De Beauvoir wrote, “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” That hit me deeply. It’s not biology but the social expectations that mold us into who we are — or who we are allowed to be.
I remember countless times being told to soften my voice, to “not be too much,” as if my natural self was a problem. It wasn’t just family — schools, media, even friends played their part.
This book helped me see those invisible chains and question the roles I’d unconsciously accepted.
It’s a reminder that personal freedom begins by recognizing the societal scripts we’ve been handed — and then deciding which ones to rewrite.
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