Elizabeth Gould Davis (June 23, 1910 – July 30, 1974) was an American

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

who wrote a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

book called '' The First Sex''.

Early life and education

Davis was born in

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of t ...

to Colonel Robert Davis and Edwina Bailey McCarty, one of four daughters. The family traveled extensively when she was growing up. She received her A. B. degree from Randolph-Macon College and, after a brief marriage in 1934, went on to earn her master's degree in librarianship at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

in 1951. She worked as a librarian at

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, and while there, wrote ''The First Sex''.

The First Sex

Davis had originally intended ''The First Sex'' to be "a short essay on wrongs towards women" inspired by the death of her sister in 1968. As she researched, she learned more about historical periods when women were in charge, and about subsequent anti-women prejudices. She argued that congenital killers and criminals have two

Y chromosome The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abs ...

s, that men say they don't mind women being successful but require femininity when feminine qualities work against success, and that a matriarchy should replace the existing patriarchy. Prof. Ginette Castro criticized Davis' position as grounded "in the purest female

chauvinism Chauvinism is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. It can be described as a form of extreme patriotism ...

." Davis committed suicide on July 30, 1974, by shooting herself. According to feminist author

Andrea Dworkin Andrea Rita Dworkin (September 26, 1946 – April 9, 2005) was an American radical feminist writer and activist best known for her analysis of pornography. Her feminist writings, beginning in 1974, span 30 years. They are found in a dozen solo ...

, Davis' suicide was largely impacted by the rape she underwent a few years prior in 1971, as well as the cancer she suffered from. Her papers are held by the Charles E. Young Research Library at UCLA.

Bibliography

*1971: '' The First Sex'', Penguin Books,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Elizabeth Gould 1910 births 1974 deaths American feminist writers American librarians American women librarians Writers from Kansas 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers American lesbian writers American women non-fiction writers 20th-century LGBT people Suicides by firearm in Florida Female suicides 1974 suicides