Existentialism is a term applied to the work of certain late 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual. A central proposition of Existentialism is that existence precedes essence, which means that the most important consideration for individuals is that the actual life of the individual is what constitutes what could be called their "true essence" instead of there being an arbitrarily attributed essence others use to define them. Thus, human beings, through their own consciousness, create their own values and determine a meaning to their life. .
Simone de Beauvoir was a French writer, intellectual, feminist and social theorist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, she had a significant influence on both feminist existentialism and feminist theory. She is primarily known for her 1949 treatise, The Second Sex, a detailed analysis of women's oppression and a foundational tract of contemporary feminism. The most controversial of the many issues touched upon in De Beauvoir's study is that of women's responsibility for and involvement in shaping centuries of an oppressive existence. .
The First major premise of The Second Sex is that man, considering himself as the essential being, or subject, has treated woman as the unessential being, or object. This is what De Beauvoir describes as the antagonistic and hostile battle between "the self " and "the other ". De Beauvoir explains that according to the philosopher Hegel, reality is made up of the interplay of opposing forces. Self-understanding is much the same. For a being to define itself, it must also define something in opposition to itself. "At the moment when man asserts himself as subject and free being, the idea of the other arises, " De Beauvoir states. For every subject, there must be an object.
