Economic and social structures still subordinate women despite overturning the femininity myth

Evidence

Women of today are overthrowing the myth of femininity; they are beginning to affirm their independence concretely; but their success in living their human condition completely does not come easily. As they are brought up by women, in the heart of a feminine world, their normal destiny is marriage, which still subordinates them to man from a practical point of view; virile prestige is far from being eradicated: it still stands on solid economic and social bases. It is thus necessary to study woman’s traditional destiny carefully. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 675

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the materialist grounding later developed in the ‘Myths’ and ‘History’ sections; marriage as the institution that practically subordinates women. — connects to: Pre-revolutionary working-class women had more economic autonomy than bourgeois women.; Women’s present situation results from ancient traditions surviving in new economic conditions — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 297; Soviet women gained economic equality yet remained bound to domestic roles — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 286 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Economic emancipation alone does not place women in a situation identical to men’s #corroborates (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1920
• Women self-select away from the highest-reward positions, sustaining gender hegemony #expands (0.80) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 767
• Women’s inferior status relative to men is universal across societies #expands (0.80) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3177
• Women’s exclusion from authority stems from learned passivity, not innate inferiority #expands (0.80) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 673
• Womanhood is socially constructed, not biologically destined #expands (0.72) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 676