Male protections disguised as benefits actually mask women’s subordination

Evidence

Attempts have been made to disguise this misfortune for a long time. Guardianship, for example, was eliminated: the woman was given “protectors,” and if they were endowed with the rights of the old guardians, it was in her best interest. Forbidding her to work and keeping her at home is intended to defend her against herself and ensure her happiness. We have seen the poetic veils used to hide the monotonous burdens she bears: housework and maternity; in exchange for her freedom she was given fallacious treasures of “femininity” as a gift. Balzac described this maneuver very well in advising a man to treat her as a slave while persuading her she is a queen. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1972

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Beauvoir’s recurring theme of the ‘femininity’ myth and to the reader’s prior work on how privilege is disguised as protection. — connects to: Female professional competition unsettles male claims over the world; Low wages structurally push working women to accept male financial protection. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1919; Heterosexual interdependence makes both sexes invested in sexist arrangements (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Gender bias against women is paternalistic proprietorship, not competitor elimination #corroborates (0.85) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1192
• Heterosexual interdependence makes both sexes invested in sexist arrangements #expands (0.75)