ABSTRACT
While Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex is a celebrated feminist tour de force as a whole, its chapter ‘The Lesbian’ has received less popular attention. This chapter examines the construction of masculinity and gender non-conformity in ‘The Lesbian’, paying particular attention to her concept of ‘protestation virile’ or ‘masculine protest’. At certain points in Beauvoir’s chapter, ‘masculine protest’ appears as an understandable reaction to patriarchal gender norms, while at others, Beauvoir intimates that it is an overreaction and harshly criticizes those that she deems too invested in female masculinity. This chapter analyzes the treatment of historical gender non-conformity and the performance of masculinity by Laure Murat and Christine Bard and addresses legislation governing ‘cross-dressing’ in 19th-century France. Throughout this chapter, the author reflects on trends pervading French and Anglo-American feminist scholarship on gender non-conformity and questions whether Beauvoir’s concept has influenced later French feminist approaches to this topic.
