Simone De Beauvoirs' "Woman" and Langston Hughes' "That Word Black"

Simone de Beauvoirs' "Woman" is a never-ending diatribe of words and phrases used by Beauvoir in a unique way. She gives an account of how the essence of a woman is defined by man. The condescending and animal-like terms used by man to describe a woman are offensive.According to the Reader's Digest Encyclopedia/Dictionary, a woman is defined as: "...an adult human being; one who is effeminate, timid or weak; a female attendant; a servant; a paramour or kept mistress." On the other hand, this same dictionary defines man as: "...an adult human being; a genuine male; a husband or lover; has exceptional development of the brain and the power of articulate speech." The only similarity between these two definitions is the term "an adult human being."Has Beauvoir echoed the sentiments of society's image of a woman? Is one to believe that by definition, a woman is and always has been subservient to man?If we are to believe that a woman's primary role is to fulfill man's needs, then w
e are indeed "servants" to him. So too, if the definition of a woman can be easily explained as a biological phenomena, that is then by what standards are we to define man? If the word female conjures up visions of primordial behavior, then the male species must be held to account for his role as "king of the beasts."In comparison, Langston Hughes' "That Word Black" takes a different approach to the same problem. Written in the 1940's, Hughes' essay introduces Jesse B. Simple, a black man who is outraged at a new language that has emerged. This new language, whose roots were derived by racism, uses the word "black" to denote negative meaning to certain words such as: "blacklist," "blackmail," and "black sheep."What do these words really mean? "Blacklist," for example, is a list of bad people. "Blackmail" was defined as "black" meaning evil, and "mail" meaning "money." "Black Hand" as used to describe terrorists and it literally means "evil power." The "Black Death" was a dis
ease that killed millions of people in Europe and Asia 600 years ago.Can anyone, therefore, deny the validity of Mr. Simple's claim that "according to the white folks, black is bad." In answer to Mr. Simple's question: "What is wrong with black?" The answer is nothing. There is, however, something wrong with those who cannot see beyond it.

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