ABSTRACT
Thepoliticalstruggleforwomentobecomerecognizedasautonomous
subjectshasbeencomplicatedbythegrowingtheoreticalrealizationthat
"subjectificationentailssubjection."1Thisconceptualconundrum,notes
SusanHekman,wasalreadyexplicitinSimonedeBeauvoir'swell-known
thesis,"oneisnotbornbutbecomesawoman."Hekmaninterpretsde
Beauvoir'sworkTheSecondSexasanattemptto"'openup'thecategoryof thesubject." 2Womenhavebeentraditionallyexcludedfromphilosophi-
caldiscussionsofsubjectivitybecausetheyhavebeen"made"orconsti-
tutedasinferior,irrationalbeings.AccordingtoHekman,deBeauvoir's
solutiontowomen'ssubjectionwasforwomentoconstitutethemselves
byembracingmodernistmale(i.e.,constituting)subjectivity.3