The courtesan’s physical freedom masks a total economic dependence on masculine desire

Evidence

No man is their definitive master. But they have the most urgent need of man. The courtesan loses all her means of existence if he ceases to desire her: the novice knows that her whole future is in his hands; deprived of masculine support, even the movie star sees her prestige fade: abandoned by Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth wandered over Europe like a sickly orphan until she found Aly Khan. The most beautiful woman is never sure of tomorrow, because her weapons are magic, and magic is capricious; she is bound to her protector—husband or lover—nearly as tightly as a “virtuous” wife is bound to her husband. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1687

Categorization

• XREF: Directly parallels the earlier argument that the prostitute’s ‘independence’ is economic servitude; connects to the bondage-vs-freedom paradox of the hetaera that echoes across the book as shadow of women’s broader situation. — connects to: Social marginality from family is what allowed courtesans to achieve near-equality with men — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 191; Even supreme wealth and adoration leave the kept courtesan trapped in immanence and boredom — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1692; Even liberated sexuality is absorbed into the system of exploitation — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 340 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Even supreme wealth and adoration leave the kept courtesan trapped in immanence and boredom #corroborates (0.88) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1692
• A courtesan dependent on no single man may be society’s only free woman #contradicts (0.85) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 198
• Women’s economic dependence makes them define themselves through men’s desires. #expands (0.82) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 298
• Sexual freedom becomes a market value serving work relations. #expands (0.78) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 330
• Even liberated sexuality is absorbed into the system of exploitation #expands (0.75) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 340
• Total dependence reduces a wife’s freedom to abstract interiority that cannot save her #corroborates (0.72) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1355