Men want women to exist but refuse to be women themselves
Evidence
No man would consent to being a woman, but all want there to be women. “Thank God for creating woman.” “Nature is good because it gave men woman.” In these and other similar phrases, man once more asserts arrogantly and naively that his presence in this world is an inevitable fact and a right, that of woman is a simple accident—but a fortunate one. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 319
Categorization
- APHORISMS: ‘No man would consent to being a woman, but all want there to be women’ reads as a compressed, returnable wisdom.
- CANDY: A crisp, sharable line that captures the asymmetry of desire and identity in one sentence.
- XREF: connects to: Women’s economic dependence makes them define themselves through men’s desires. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 298; Men demand unconditional love while refusing what that devotion reciprocally requires — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1885; Men oppress women to flee themselves by alienating in an other. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1971 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Men demand unconditional love while refusing what that devotion reciprocally requires
#exemplifies(0.82) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1885 - Women’s economic dependence makes them define themselves through men’s desires.
#expands(0.78) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 298 - Men oppress women to flee themselves by alienating in an other.
#contradicts(0.75) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1971 - Most men in patriarchal society resent women who abandon passive roles
#corroborates(0.75) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 231 - Assertive women face backlash that identical men do not
#corroborates(0.72)