Woman’s resignation to suffering produces the patience society admires as feminine virtue.

Evidence

When the ashes of Pompeii’s statues were dug out, it was observed that the men were caught in movements of revolt, defying the sky or trying to flee, while the women were bent, withdrawn into themselves, turning their faces toward the earth. They know they are powerless against things: volcanoes, policemen, employers, or men. “Women are made to suffer,” they say. “That’s life; nothing can be done about it.” This resignation engenders the patience often admired in women. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1744

Categorization

• XREF: Directly builds the immanence/passivity theme that will recur throughout the volume’s concrete chapters; resonates with Beauvoir’s own account in the myths chapters. — connects to: Patience counts as a virtue only when practiced independent of circumstance; Patience is cultivated as a good deed regardless of one’s circumstances

Broader Connections

• Patience counts as a virtue only when practiced independent of circumstance #complicates (0.82)
• Patience is cultivated as a good deed regardless of one’s circumstances #complicates (0.78)