A young girl’s discovery of the boy’s penis can arouse envy rather than shock

Evidence

Deprived of this alter ego, the little girl does not alienate herself in a graspable thing, does not reclaim herself: she is thus led to make her entire self an object, to posit herself as the Other; the question of knowing whether or not she has compared herself with boys is secondary; what is important is that, even without her knowing it, the absence of a penis keeps her from being aware of herself as a sex; many consequences result from this. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 128 (#expands, via linked claim)

The more the child matures, the more his universe expands and masculine superiority asserts itself. Very often, identification with the mother no longer seems a satisfactory solution. If the little girl at first accepts her feminine vocation, it is not that she means to abdicate: on the contrary, it is to rule; she wants to be a matron because matrons’ society seems privileged to her; but when her acquaintances, studies, amusements, and reading material tear her away from the maternal circle, she realizes that it is not women but men who are the masters of the world. It is this revelation—far more than the discovery of the penis—that imperiously modifies her consciousness of herself. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 698 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Female penis envy is not innate but learned and variable. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 684; Lacking a penis to externalize transcendence, the girl makes her whole self an object — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 128; The girl’s vanity and jealousy arise from worth hinging on others’ approbation (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Lacking a penis to externalize transcendence, the girl makes her whole self an object #expands (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 128
• Seeing male dominance, not genital difference, alters a girl’s self-consciousness #complicates (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 698
• The girl’s vanity and jealousy arise from worth hinging on others’ approbation #complicates (0.75)
• The girl learns to view herself through an imagined collective male gaze #complicates (0.75)