Conflicting expectations of equality and otherness produce women’s lack of balance

Evidence

The duplicitous attitude of men today creates a painful split for women; they accept, for the most part, that woman be a peer, an equal; and yet they continue to oblige her to remain the inessential; for her, these two destinies are not reconcilable; she hesitates between them without being exactly suited to either, and that is the source of her lack of balance. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 668

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Men sincerely hold contradictory beliefs about women’s equality — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 61; Woman’s contradictory image stems from being man’s inessential Other — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 413; Liberal reforms add expectations without removing the demand to be feminine — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 692 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Woman’s contradictory image stems from being man’s inessential Other #expands (0.82) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 413