Maternal vocation is socially imposed, not instinctually innate

Evidence

No “maternal instinct,” innate and mysterious, lies therein either. The little girl observes that child care falls to the mother, that is what she is taught; stories told, books read, all her little experience confirms it; she is encouraged to feel delight for these future riches, she is given dolls so she will already feel the tangible aspect of those riches. Her “vocation” is determined imperiously. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 693

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Directly supports the ‘Grafting & Growth’ and general anti-essentialism themes by showing how a supposedly natural role is manufactured through toys and stories.
• DEFINE: Establishes Beauvoir’s core anti-essentialist position: what looks like nature (‘maternal instinct’) is cultural fabrication.
• XREF: connects to: Birth-place restricts freedom, whether this enslaves or enables; Justinian’s law made woman’s helplessness a product of family situation, not sex; Early divergence between boys and girls is socially imposed, not instinctual — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 676 (+12 more)

Broader Connections

• The maternal obligation is a social construct, not a natural dictate #corroborates (0.95) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1533
• Parentage certainty drives why females, not males, typically provide parental care #contradicts (0.80) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 684