Poorly integrated girls convert the drive for the absolute into mysticism or revolutionary heroism

Evidence

Beyond Nature she sometimes seeks an even more remote and stunning reality; she is willing to lose herself in mystical ecstasies; in periods of faith many young female souls demanded that God fill the emptiness of their being; the vocations of Catherine of Siena and Teresa of Avila were revealed to them at a young age. Joan of Arc was a girl. In other periods, humanity appears the supreme end; so the mystical impulse flows into defined projects; but it is also a youthful desire for the absolute that gave birth to the flame that nourished the life of Mme Roland or Rosa Luxemburg. From her subjugation, her impoverishment, and the depths of her refusal, the girl can extract the most daring courage. She finds poetry; she finds heroism too. One of the ways of assuming the fact that she is poorly integrated into society is to go beyond its restricting horizons. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 914

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘refusal’ of social integration as a source of courage parallels the earlier chapters’ account of woman’s revolt and prefigures the feminine mystique critiques. — connects to: Female mystics destroy their flesh to transform it from abjection into glory — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1911; Narcissism, romantic love, and mysticism are doomed attempts to transcend through immanence — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1770
• QUESTION: How does this compare to the thesis in James’ Varieties of Religious Experience about conversion arising from emotional distress? A contrast in mechanism worth examining.

Broader Connections

• Female mystics destroy their flesh to transform it from abjection into glory #exemplifies (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1911
• Narcissism, romantic love, and mysticism are doomed attempts to transcend through immanence #corroborates (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1770