Cinderella complex
The Cinderella complex describes women's fear of independence . This phenomenon can be defined as a syndrome that is characterized by a number of specific motivations or causes.
The term syndrome has largely been used to define apparent conditions in medicine. However, the term has also been used outside of medicine in the last few decades and refers to a combination of phenomena seen in the association.
Since a person's dependence on adult caregivers usually decreases as soon as he or she reaches adulthood, the complex may only then become visible.
Definition by Dowling
The Cinderella complex was first described in 1981 by Colette Dowling, who wrote about women's fear of independence in her book of the same name. She characterized him as an unconscious desire for care by others, based on the fear of being independent. In her bestseller, she advocates the thesis that women are afraid of being self-employed and sees the causes in doubts about their own competence, which are based on the different socialization of boys and girls. As a result, women did not learn to deal with their fears. The unconsciously accepted female role, waiting for the savior (as in the fairy tale of Cinderella) prevents the full development of her mental powers. Dowling sees evidence in women’s fear of success in top business professions.
Dowling only identifies one motivation, while the syndrome actually comprises a combination of many motivations, which in themselves are characteristics that form a complex.
A very important aspect of their job is figuring out why women choose to stay in a dysfunctional relationship.
Origin of name
This complex was named after the fairy tale character Cinderella (the English equivalent for Cinderella ), known among other things from the 1950 Walt Disney cartoon Cinderella . Here Dowling sees a woman who is beautiful, graceful and polite, but not a strong, independent one Can have character and must be saved from outside, for example by a man (a prince). Interestingly enough, Cinderella shows independence in the fairy tale by not accepting the role she was supposed to play, but instead attending a ball against the wishes of her stepmother, at which the prince's son looks for a bride and finally finds her after some entanglements in Cinderella. Even if it is the king's son who finally rescues Cinderella from her unfortunate circumstances, Cinderella does not appear in the fairy tale as a woman who shies away from making independent decisions, so this choice of name leaves questions unanswered.
As early as 1955, Agatha Christie used a Cinderella complex for the character of Celia Austin , diagnosed by Colin McNabb, a psychology student, in her detective novel The Kleptomaniac . In 1960 Osbert Sitwell published the comedy The Cinderella Complex .
literature
- Colette Dowling: The Cinderella Complex: The Secret Fear of Women Before Independence (Original title: The Cinderella Complex: Women's Hidden Fear of Independence . Simon & Schuster, 1990, ISBN 0-671-73334-6 , translated by Manfred Ohl and Hans Sartorius). Fischer-Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 1997, ISBN 3-596-23068-3 .