Economic helplessness drives young women to aggressively pursue marriage

Evidence

Here again the response is nearly unanimous: it is the girls who usually take the initiative in pursuing marriage. “Girls realize they are not equipped to get along on their own; not knowing how they can work to make a living, they seek a lifeline in marriage. Girls make declarations, throw themselves at boys. They are frightening! Girls use all their resources to get married … it’s the woman who pursues the man,” and so forth. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1126

Categorization

• QUESTION: The ‘girls are frightening’ tone from male interviewers is worth chasing: who is describing female assertiveness as frightening, and what power relation does that reveal?
• XREF: Inverts the common cultural narrative of men as pursuers; connects with the book’s thesis that woman’s economic dependency manufactures her apparent ‘nature.’ — connects to: Greater male wealth produces greater female servitude, while shared poverty equalizes the marriage bond. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 210; Young women pursue marriage primarily to escape the humiliation of being unsought — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1123; Marriage and career are structurally harder to combine for women than for men — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1932 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Young women pursue marriage primarily to escape the humiliation of being unsought #corroborates (0.95) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1123
• Girls are socialized to treat marriage as a skilled hunt rather than free choice #expands (0.78) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1128
• Marriage and career are structurally harder to combine for women than for men #expands (0.72) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1932