One is not born a woman, one becomes one --this is the main theme of de Beauvoir`s classic 1949 study of the status of women, in which she attempts to show how simply being born female affects a woman`s life and choices. The book counsels women not to passively accept their lot, but to pursue meaningful work, and to fight the status of second sex that has been unfairly allotted to them because of their capacity to bear children. De Beauvoir weaves together history, philosophy, economics, biology, and literature in a scholarly but accessible study that was ahead of its time.