Dressing for display makes women dependent on others’ recognition for self-worth

Evidence

Through envious or admiring approbation, woman seeks an absolute affirmation of her beauty, her elegance, her taste: of herself. She dresses to display herself; she displays herself to make herself be. She thus submits herself to a painful dependence; the housewife’s devotion is useful even if it is not recognized; the effort of the fashion-conscious woman is in vain unless consciousness is involved. She is looking for a definitive valorization of herself; it is this attempt at the absolute that makes her quest so exhausting; criticized by only one voice—this hat is not beautiful—she is flattered by a compliment, but a contradiction demolishes her; and as the absolute only manifests itself in an indefinite series of appearances, she will never have entirely won; this is why the fashion-conscious woman is sensitive; it is also why some pretty and much-admired women can be sadly convinced they are neither beautiful nor elegant, that this supreme approbation of an unknown judge is exactly what is missing: they are aiming for an in-itself that is unrealizable. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1582

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Beauvoir’s earlier development of the in-itself/for-itself dialectic and to the theme of woman’s value being conferred by the male gaze (later developed in the Myth chapter and in Lacan/objectification theory). — connects to: Fashion restraints function less to beautify than to render women’s bodies powerless — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 351; Feminine dress functions as self-decoration, offering the wearer up as merchandise — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1078; For a woman, dress functions as economic currency and social standing. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1567 (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Narcissistic women use audiences rather than mirrors to confirm their self-image #corroborates (0.95) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1813
• Adornment simultaneously singles out its wearer and requires others’ gaze to have value #corroborates (0.90) — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 8222
• Feminine presentation is coerced self-objectification in disguise #corroborates (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 900
• External surveillance becomes internalized self-discipline through dress choices #expands (0.85)