Becoming a woman: The gender theories of Simone de Beauvoir - Rewriting The Rules

One is not born, but rather one becomes, a woman.

—Simone de Beauvoir

Here she is arguing, from autobiographical experience and from the available evidence at the time, that the things associated with womenhood (such as being passive, concerned with appearance, childlike and in need of protection, and wanting to care for others) are imposed upon women by society rather than being innate characteristics they are born with.