One is not born a woman, but rather becomes one.. (Simone de Beauvoir). Discuss.

This famous claim by Simone de Beauvoir in The Second Sex (1947) saw the inception of feminism or at least the roots of gender studies. Although the middle-class feminist movement had already emerged in the 1860s, the main concern of the majority of feminists in the nineteenth century was the education and employment of the middle classes. At that time the limitations of working class women was not questioned.

One of the most dramatic social transformations of the latter half of the twentieth century has involved the massive influx of women into the paid labour force. The role of women in Western society has traditionally placed much emphasis on their importance in relation to the domestic sphere….(short extract)