Pregnancy grants women a socially sanctioned justification for self-absorption and exemption from effort

Evidence

As the pregnancy proceeds, the relation between mother and fetus changes. It is solidly settled in the maternal womb, the two organisms adapt to each other, and there are biological exchanges between them allowing the woman to regain her balance. She no longer feels possessed by the species: she herself possesses the fruit of her womb. The first months she was an ordinary woman, and diminished by the secret labor taking place in her; later she is obviously a mother, and her malfunctions are the reverse of her glory. The increasing weakness she suffers from becomes an excuse. Many women then find a marvelous peace in their pregnancy: they feel justified; they always liked to observe themselves, to spy on their bodies; because of their sense of social duty, they did not dare to focus on their body with too much self-indulgence: now they have the right to; everything they do for their own well-being they also do for the child. They are not required to work or make an effort; they no longer have to pay attention to the rest of the world; the dreams of the future they cherish have meaning for the present moment; they only have to enjoy the moment: they are on vacation. The reason for their existence is there, in their womb, and gives them a perfect impression of plenitude. … Fulfilled, woman also experiences the satisfaction of feeling “interesting,” which has been, since her adolescence, her deepest desire; as a wife, she suffered from her dependence on man; at present she is no longer sex object or servant, but she embodies the species, she is the promise of life, of eternity; her friends and family respect her; even her caprices become sacred: this is what encourages her, as we have seen, to invent “cravings.” “Pregnancy permits woman to rationalize performances which otherwise would appear absurd,” says Helene Deutsch. Justified by the presence within her of another, she finally fully enjoys being herself. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1465

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Beauvoir’s earlier chapter on the adolescent woman’s desire to feel ‘interesting’ and to the narcissistic structures she traces — the pregnancy resolves a tension she set up earlier in the book. — connects to: Motherhood is traditionally assigned as the wife’s avenue to autonomy and self-realization; Pregnancy diminishes women whose identity is anchored in erotic desirability — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1477; Women sustain a happy pregnancy only by not being absorbed in it — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1470 (+7 more)
• DEFINE: Shows concretely how Beauvoir’s category of ‘situation’ operates: the biological fact of pregnancy is transformed by social permission into a legitimated narcissism.

Broader Connections

• Expressed attitudes toward pregnancy mask women’s contradictory and repressed inner feelings. #expands (0.82) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1433
• Pregnant women’s cravings are culturally cultivated rather than biologically driven #expands (0.78) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1457
• Maternal vocation is socially imposed, not instinctually innate #exemplifies (0.75) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 693
• Motherhood is framed as a sacred obligation rather than a natural need #exemplifies (0.72)