As I conclude my first PLP project of the year (“You Think You Can Do Better”), It is now time again to transition into a new one. The Manhattan Project. During this project we will focus on historical significance, and look through a multitude of different lenses to see how an event changes the world.

 

So, what is historical significance? Historical significance is defined by historicalthinking.ca as “Significant events include those that resulted in great change over long periods of time for large numbers of people.” I would like to note that change has an element of subjectivity to it, as impact can be felt on different scales, although a true and complete historically significant event would affect everyone in a direct manner (World War 2 is the best example). I was tasked with finding a historically significant event found in the subject I chose. The choices were: Politics, Science/Technology, Sociology/Culture, and Philosophy/Ethics/Morals. I chose the philosophy one as I believe that to be the subject that most directly connects to all the other areas since one could argue it is the root of all academia, I am also just interested in it. 

 

My Event, The Publication of “The Second Sex”

Simone De Beauvoir was a French existential philosopher and feminist. In 1949 she published “The Second Sex”. The book argues that, just as our meaning and purpose is not predetermined, neither is gender or sexuality. This concretely defines the difference between gender and sex. Along with all of that, it builds the bridge between feminist theory, and philosophy, the first argument I cited is an example on how she did just that. These core ideas are what makes the book so important, and so significant. The significance is not just found within the book itself, but also within the inspiration that it created. 

 

We were given a template to determine why and how it was significant. I go into more detail here. (Please use the link, not sure why the photo is so bad quality)

To put into a metaphor, I would argue that, “The Second Sex” was one of the largest logs added to the small fire that was the femnist movement at the time. Like I state, in my Historical Significance template, “The Second Sex” helped legitimize feminism in the world of modern philosophy. I would even go as far to say that it was the catalyst for the acceptance of femnist theory. Although this book isn’t remembered very directly, we can see and feel the effects of this in our everyday lives through how far womens rights have come in the last century. At least, when we know when to look. 

 

Thanks for reading.