To act upon history one must first be anchored in society, which subjugates women.

Evidence

A great man springs from the mass and is carried by circumstances: the mass of women is at the fringes of history, and for each of them circumstances are an obstacle and not a springboard. To change the face of the world, one has first to be firmly anchored to it; but women firmly rooted in society are those subjugated by it; unless they are designated for action by divine right—and in this case they are shown to be as capable as men—the ambitious woman and the heroine are strange monsters. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 289

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The paradox at the heart of women’s historical non-agency: anchoring in society is both necessary for action and identical to subjugation.
• XREF: connects to: Women’s otherness lacks the historical before that enables other groups to rebel — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre: The Riddle of…, 58; Exclusion from history makes women mistrust the future and defend the status quo — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1743; Historical insignificance caused women’s inferiority, not the reverse. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 289 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Women’s otherness lacks the historical before that enables other groups to rebel #expands (0.88) — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 58
• Exclusion from history makes women mistrust the future and defend the status quo #expands (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1743
• Historical insignificance caused women’s inferiority, not the reverse. #expands (0.82) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 289
• Woman’s status as privileged Other depends on specific social and political conditions #expands (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 320