Power, Sex, and Myth: Beauvoir, Paglia, and Peterson

Karen Vintges, in her contribution, “Power, Sex, and Myth: Beauvoir, Paglia, and Peterson,” compares the work on myths of the art historian Camille Paglia and the psychologist Jordan Peterson with Simone de Beauvoir’s work, The Second Sex, a large part of which is on myths as well. Whereas, according to Beauvoir, dominant myths about power, sex, and gender are historically determined, and therefore changeable, according to Paglia and Peterson, these myths are timeless and inescapable, constituting the “truth of history.” Contrasting Beauvoir’s The Second Sex with Paglia’s and Peterson’s approaches, Vintges evaluates to what extent this work still provides us with concepts that help us to better understand today’s world. Finally, the author evaluates to what extent the work of Peterson can be seen as exemplary for current right wing populist parties and movements, showing us what their connecting principle is.