Women, the second sex: The 'Myth' according to Simone de Beauvoir. A feminist approach to empirical sociology

It is time to refer to Simone de Beauvoir as a classic in feminist theories also for sociologists. That means on one hand to take Beauvoir serious as a mastermind and on the other to regard The Second Sex as an oeuvre with theoretical potential that is still interesting to discuss. For this purpose the article examines the theoretical concept of the myths in The Second Sex. This concept will be discussed against the background of some aspects of the concepts of social norms, the concepts of social construction of gender, and the concept of the polarization of gender characters. It is shown by an empirical example of interviews with couples that the myths are a productive concept for the sociological analysis of doing gender in everyday practice of couple relationships. This concept permits to analyse asymmetry while constructing gender in straight relationships.