De Beauvoir explained subjectivity (our sense of Self) through exis philosophy. Existentialism proposes that one exists first, and through one’s acts, one becomes something. She reasoned that an individual has absolute control over their fate, and neither society nor organized religion should limit our freedom to live authentically. But since men have claimed the category of Self, of Subject, for themselves, woman is relegated to the status of Other. Consequently, the category of woman has no substance except as an extension of male fantasy and fears. Since all cultural representations of the
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