Young women pursue marriage primarily to escape the humiliation of being unsought

Evidence

“Girls besiege boys. Girls marry the first boy to come along simply to get married. They all hope to marry and work at doing so. A girl is humiliated if she is not sought after: to escape this, she will often marry her first prospect. Girls marry to get married. Girls marry to be married. Girls settle down because marriage assures them more freedom.” — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1123

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the existentialist claim (from the book’s own thesis) that marriage is chosen as flight toward immanence rather than transcendent self-definition. — connects to: Economic helplessness drives young women to aggressively pursue marriage — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1126; Girls are socialized to treat marriage as a skilled hunt rather than free choice — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1128; Imposed marriage can be so traumatic a girl kills herself over it — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1130
• SEED: Article angle: the twin coercion of marriage markets, where women are pressured both toward and away from matrimony, and how the ‘freedom’ marriage grants is itself a trap.

Broader Connections

• Girls are socialized to treat marriage as a skilled hunt rather than free choice #expands (0.78) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1128