Man’s desire to conquer woman is really a pursuit of her freedom itself.

Evidence

These very dangers make woman captivating game for an adventurous man. Disregarding his rights as a husband, refusing to uphold society’s laws, he will try to conquer her in single combat. He tries to annex the woman, including her resistance; he pursues in her the same freedom through which she escapes him. In vain. Freedom cannot be carved up: the free woman will often be free at the expense of man. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 408

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies how woman’s freedom functions as the prize and the obstacle in Beauvoir’s dialectic of erotic conquest.
• XREF: connects to: Man elevates woman to personhood precisely because she remains his feared other — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 366; The oppressor is himself enslaved to the image women uphold. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1971; Man’s liberator fantasy depends on keeping woman in a state of bondage — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 398

Broader Connections

• Man’s liberator fantasy depends on keeping woman in a state of bondage #expands (0.90) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 398
• Man elevates woman to personhood precisely because she remains his feared other #expands (0.82) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 366
• The oppressor is himself enslaved to the image women uphold. #expands (0.78) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1971