While Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex is known primarily as a feminist text, it is the existentialist philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre that influenced Beauvoir's writings . As existentialists, these philosophers argue that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject and not just the thinking subject. Sartre argues that philosophical thought begins with the action, feeling and life of the human individual. For an existentialist, the starting point of a being is when one feels disorientation or fear when looking at the world. For existentialists it is the individual and not society that determines and is responsible for the meaning of one's life. Beauvoir takes existentialist philosophy and turns it into a discussion of feminism, racism, motherhood, and many other topics. In this essay I will show how Jean-Paul Sartre's philosophy influenced Simone de Beauvoir's theories on feminism. It is through Sartre's use of the character, Inez, in “No Exit” that the role of existentialist philosophy is shown to be played in the discussion of Hell. It is Sartre's thoughts that influence Beauvoir's thoughts on topics in this life rather than the afterlife. In Margaret A. Simons' book, Beauvoir and The Second Sex: Feminism, Race, and the Origins of Existentialism, the links between Beauvoir and existentialism are outlined and offer a good understanding and interpretation of the Second Sex and its role as a feminist and existentialist. Reading The Second Sex, one can discern that the text is simply an expression of Sartrean existentialism in the form of a women's question, showing Beauvoir first as a philosopher and then as a feminist as she transforms Sartre's philosophy and creates her own. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Although Beauvoir plays an important role in Sartrean existentialism, it is important to look first at Jean-Paul Sartre. In his play “No Exit”, Sartre's philosophy is well expressed through the use of the character Inez. Sartre's philosophical views are ingrained in his characters as they play a vital role in representing an existentialist view in the work. Sartre uses the personal attributes of the characters to demonstrate existentialist thinking. Each of the three characters shows characteristics of sexual perversion and interaction with consciousness. Sartre explores many existentialist themes, in particular “No Exit” focuses on the ideas of consciousness and freedom. Although the setting of the work is Hell, the characters are taken to a room with no mirrors, no windows, only three sofas, a letter opener and a piece of shelf, leaving the characters exposed, raw and naked for the reader. It is Inez who brings forward the notion of consciousness in the show. Inez's first thought about Garcin provides a great example of the distinction between knowing something and being aware of something, Sartre writes: “Garcin: I apologize. Who do you think I am? Inez: You? Why, the torturer, obviously” (8). Without knowing that it is actually Garcin and later Estelle who are her torturers, Inez's misconception is actually hitting the truth. Inez offers many existentialist reflections on consciousness. Sartre believes that consciousness is painful and argues that human beings spend much of their time with an unreflected consciousness. Inez expresses this when she says, “I'm always aware of myself – in my mind. Painfully conscious” (19). For Sartre, an existentialist must know that existence precedes essence, which means that an individual must act as an individual. Inez realizes this in Hell when she says:“So I'm done with the land, apparently. No more alibis for me! I feel so empty, desiccated – finally dead. Everything about me is here, in this room” (29). In this quote we see that Inez realizes that she determines her own destiny. She is solely responsible for ending up in Hell. This is what it means to be an existentialist. An existentialist has the freedom to determine his own destiny and also take responsibility for his own decisions. This is how we see in Jean-Paul Sartre's “No Exit” what it means to be an existentialist. It is these foundations that provided Simone de Beauvoir with the ability to expand and transform existentialist thought in The Second Sex. In Beauvoir's The Second Sex, he takes Sartre's existentialist philosophy and turns it into his own. Like Sartre, Beauvoir reflects greatly on the human struggle for freedom. The Second Sex lays the foundation for the second wave of feminism. The second wave concerns, among other things, sexuality, family and reproductive rights. This relates to existentialism in the way that existentialists are concerned with achieving freedom or the ability to choose for oneself in good faith. In Beauvoir and The Second Sex: Feminism, Race, and the Origins of Existentialism by Margaret A. Simons, the first line of the second chapter reads: The question of the influence that Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre had on each other each other's work during the fifty years in which writers have analyzed their relationship has rarely been rigorously posed... feminist philosophies who regard The Second Sex (1949) as a mere application of Sartre's perspective are equally way Beauvoir's philosophical differences from Sartres are remembered when their analyzes address sexism and the limits of Sartre's understanding of the situation of women... (Simons 41) Simons is saying that people who read Beauvoir without a feminist lens, see Beauvoir as a simple reiteration of Sartrean existentialism. For Simons, Beauvoir must be recognized as a philosopher as well as being a feminist. A man who limits himself to the awareness of being a man is more likely to see Beauvoir as an imitator of Sartre. Beauvoir writes: “man is defined as a human being and woman as a female – whenever she behaves like a human being she is said to imitate the male” (Beauvoir). This once again provides an existentialist reading of the text, as men take on the role of telling the woman how she should and should not be; this gives the woman the feeling of not being in control of who she is. This shows that if someone is taught all their life that to be a woman they have to act or look a specific way, be submissive and only do certain jobs, this will affect their sense of freedom and authenticity. Beauvoir writes about the domineering role that men take towards women: “the entire history of women was created by men. Just as in America there is no black problem, but rather a white problem; just as anti-Semitism is not a Jewish problem, it is our problem; therefore the woman's problem has always been a man's problem” (Beauvoir). He is saying that men are the people with problems when it comes to women's issues. For Beauvoir, men created the problems women face. This makes life difficult for a woman who identifies as an existentialist. So if this is the case, for Beauvoir, being known as the woman who followed her husband's thoughts would be incredibly difficult. While many feminist writers before Beauvoir took the form of literature, Beauvoir was among the first to view feminism philosophically. It is this form taken by Beauvoir that the.