The reason that the petty exploits of Beauvoir and Sartre are important is that, despite their both being rather despicable human beings, they claimed to be 'saints' of a particular sort and were treated as such by gullible leftists in the post-war period.
Maybe you've spent your life around especially ethical people, but my experience of others is that nothing Beauvoir has done that you've described so far differs from normal human all too human daily behavior that I've witnessed with my parents, with various partners, with friends,
with my two grown children and their partners. I agree that we shouldn't idealize Beauvoir as some kind of feminist saint, if that is your point, but then again there are good arguments against saints: Orwell has some in his essay on Gandhi. After all, Beauvoir was a talented writer and philosopher and that's why I read her today, not because I ever believed that she or anyone else is a flawless role model.
The reason that the petty exploits of Beauvoir and Sartre are important is that, despite their both being rather despicable human beings, they claimed to be 'saints' of a particular sort and were treated as such by gullible leftists in the post-war period.
Maybe you've spent your life around especially ethical people, but my experience of others is that nothing Beauvoir has done that you've described so far differs from normal human all too human daily behavior that I've witnessed with my parents, with various partners, with friends,
with my two grown children and their partners. I agree that we shouldn't idealize Beauvoir as some kind of feminist saint, if that is your point, but then again there are good arguments against saints: Orwell has some in his essay on Gandhi. After all, Beauvoir was a talented writer and philosopher and that's why I read her today, not because I ever believed that she or anyone else is a flawless role model.