A girl’s earlier temperamental choices shape how she responds to becoming feminine.

Evidence

The girl reacts to her situation differently depending on her earlier choices. The “little woman,” the matron-to-be, can easily resign herself to her metamorphosis; but she may also have drawn a taste for authority from her condition as “little woman” that lets her rebel against the masculine yoke: she is ready to establish a matriarchy, not to become an erotic object and servant. This will often be the case of those older sisters who took on important responsibilities at a young age. The “tomboy,” upon becoming a woman, often feels a burning disappointment that can drive her directly to homosexuality; but what she was looking for in independence and intensity was to possess the world: she may not want to renounce the power of her femininity, the experiences of maternity, a whole part of her destiny. Generally, with some resistance, the girl consents to her femininity: already at the stage of childish coquetry, in front of her father, in her erotic fantasies, she understood the charm of passivity; she discovers the power in it; vanity is soon mixed with the shame that her flesh inspires. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 844

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to existentialist freedom vs. situation from earlier chapters; the girl’s past projects determine her present attitude toward her metamorphosis. — connects to: In Freudian terms a girl’s sexual development can stall into frigidity or homosexuality.; The girl resists feminization because it means mutilation, before accepting it. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 710; Girls accept femininity as a free game before adult duty makes it binding — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 922 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Puberty’s bodily changes alienate the girl from herself and the world #expands (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 835