Expecting a Prince Charming splits women’s energies and produces professional inferiority

Evidence

Everything still encourages the girl to expect fortune and happiness from a “Prince Charming” instead of attempting the difficult and uncertain conquest alone. For example, she can hope to attain a higher caste through him, a miracle her whole life’s work will not bring her. But such a hope is harmful because it divides her strength and interests; this split is perhaps the most serious handicap for woman. Parents still raise their daughters for marriage rather than promoting their personal development; and the daughter sees so many advantages that she desires it herself; the result is that she is often less specialized, less solidly trained than her brothers, she is less totally committed to her profession; as such, she is doomed to remain inferior in it; and the vicious circle is knotted: this inferiority reinforces her desire to find a husband. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 297

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clearly states the ‘vicious circle’ mechanism: marriage-hope causes lesser training, which causes professional inferiority, which reinforces marriage-hope.
• XREF: connects to: Implicit Prince-Charming beliefs predict reduced income expectations and leadership ambitions in women.; Implicit chivalric romantic ideals reduce women’s career and income ambitions — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 771; Women who implicitly idealize men show reduced interest in personal power. (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Implicit chivalric romantic ideals reduce women’s career and income ambitions #corroborates (0.95) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 771
• Implicit Prince-Charming beliefs predict reduced income expectations and leadership ambitions in women. #corroborates (0.90)
• Implicit romantic beliefs predict reduced career ambition in women. #corroborates (0.90)
• Women who implicitly idealize men show reduced interest in personal power. #expands (0.80)