Simone de Beauvoir’s commitment to authenticity and her rejection of the life that bourgeois society deemed appropriate for a woman mean that for many she is an icon of integrity and courage. However, her deference to Satre and her apparent exploitation of students may give pause. To what extent is her commitment to the feminist philosophy she conceived and her strength in rejecting tradition rendered inauthentic in light of the details of her private relations and her hidden weaknesses?