Manon Garcia

Manon Garcia
Manon Garcia in 2023
Born1985 (age 40–41)
Education
EducationÉcole Normale Supérieure
University of Paris I
Sandra Laugier
Philosophical work
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
French feminism
Institutions
Main interests
Political philosophy
Moral philosophy
Notable ideas
Feminist analysis of submission

Manon Garcia (born 1985) is a French philosopher, specializing in feminist philosophy. Her 2021 book We Are Not Born Submissive (original French title On ne naît pas soumise, on le devient) has been translated into several languages besides English, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, German and Spanish.

Early life and education

Garcia studied at the École Normale Supérieure and obtained the agrégation in philosophy in 2014. In 2017, she completed her doctorate at the University of Paris I with a thesis on the thought of Simone de Beauvoir.

Career

She held positions at Harvard University, at the University of Chicago and at Yale University before becoming a junior professor at the Freie Universität Berlin in 2022.

In her book We Are Not Born Submissive (2021, originally published in French in 2018) she distinguishes between two kinds of female submission: one by force, which leaves no choice, and another involving a kind of cost–benefit analysis, which, however, she links not to any "feminine nature", but to social conditioning. To highlight the paradox in a consented female submission, she utilizes the thought of Simone de Beauvoir. In 2021 she published The Joy of Consent, where she argues that sexual consent is not a simple concept and advocates the development of a "contextually sensitive approach".

After attending part of the trial that led to multiple men being convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot, in 2025 Garcia published Living with Men: Reflections on the Pelicot Trial.

Awards and distinctions

Her book La conversation des sexes (Éditions Flammarion, 2021) won the Prix PhiloMonaco essay prize in 2022. It is rendered in English translation as The Joy of Consent: A Philosophy of Good Sex, published by Belknap Press in 2023.

Publications

In English

In French

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Philosophy Professor at Freie Universität Berlin to Receive 2025 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize". Freie Universität Berlin. March 28, 2025. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
  2. 1 2 Williams, Zoe (October 13, 2025). "'These men think they've done nothing wrong': the philosopher who tried to understand Gisèle Pelicot's rapists". The Guardian (interview). Retrieved October 14, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Faculty: Manon Garcia". Department of Philosophy, Yale University. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022.
  4. ↑ Knowles, Charlotte (December 2021). "Review: We are not born submissive: How patriarchy shapes women's lives, by Manon Garcia". European Journal of Philosophy. 29 (4): 1183–86. doi:10.1111/ejop.12739.
  5. ↑ Schaffner, Anna Katharina (February 22, 2024). "The Ethics and Erotics of Permission: On Manon Garcia's 'The Joy of Consent'". LA Review of Books. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  6. ↑ "La philosophe Manon Garcia: 'Pour moi, il y a un avant et un après le procès des viols de Mazan'" (video interview, 22 mins 14 secs) (in French). France Inter. March 9, 2025. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Le Prix PhiloMonaco de l'Essai 2022". PhiloMonaco (in French). Les Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco. Retrieved July 2, 2026. The Prize PhiloMonaco Essay Prize 2022