What does Simone De Beauvoir's quote mean

Question

"to make oneself an object, to make oneself passive, is a very different thing from being a passive object" (The Second s*x, Book 2, Part 4, chapter 3, page 400)

Thanks.

Answer 1

I suppose she means it;s all right to make yourself passive on purpose so long as you aren't that way naturally.  I wouldn't let that woman get to you, she was a nutcase.

Answer 2

Sounds like it's about choice.

Being a passive object means waiting for a man to notice you.

Making oneself an passive object means choosing to react passively after a man has noticed you, presumably in the hope that it will cause him to feel powerful and therefore more 'in love'.

I'm not an expert on Beauvoir, but I think her analysis can be a bit uncomfortable at times.  I don't want to be a passive object, and I don't want to make myself an object or passive.

I want to be a desiring subject: able to look at a man and to feel aroused by my own experience of desire, rather than by a sense of being the object of his desire.  I want my desire to be active: to be able to give a man signals of my active desire for him, rather than merely responding to his signals of desire.

I think it's preferable to be an active, desiring subject that to make oneself a passive object.

Answer 3

It means that having the choice to be passive is different from being forced to be passive.

Edit: About Louise C's Comment:

Simone De Beauvoir wasn't a nutcase. I did a research project on her for English class. She was an amazing, intelligent woman. She wasn't a nutcase in any way.

Answer 4

Pre-existing as a non aggressive being is not the same as becoming a non aggressive being or becoming a thing.