Exalting woman spiritually sanctions her earthly subordination rather than liberating her

Evidence

We have seen that the earthly vocation of woman does not cancel out any of her supernatural autonomy; on the contrary, in recognizing this, the Catholic feels authorized to maintain male prerogatives in this world. If the woman is venerated in God, she will be treated like a servant in this world: and further, the more total submission is demanded of her, the more surely will she move forward on the road to her salvation. Her lot, the lot the bourgeoisie has always assigned to her, is to devote herself to her children, her husband, her home, her realm, to country, and to church; man gives activity, woman her person; to sanctify this hierarchy in the name of divine will does not modify it in the least, but on the contrary attempts to fix it in the eternal. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 591

Categorization

• DEFINE: The core mechanism — spiritual glorification as ideological cover for earthly servitude.
• SEED: Angle: how every ‘liberating’ idealization of a group quietly re-fixes its subordination — religious, romantic, or muse-flattery alike.
• XREF: Connects to the standing article on ‘Complaints About Immodesty Go Way Back’ — same pattern of ideology justifying hierarchy. — connects to: The Madonna cult and witch persecutions are paired expressions of Christian contempt for woman — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 89; Exalting woman as Other serves to block her entry into the human community — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 174; Goddess worship marked cultural stagnation, not female empowerment. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 165 (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• The mystical exaltation of woman still subordinates her as man’s instrument of salvation #corroborates (0.97) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 589
• Blocked transcendence leaves woman unable to be defined by her acts #expands (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 662
• Woman’s complicity with male sovereignty arises from her own transcendence #complicates (0.75) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 156