Cinderella complex

Meaning

Noun

• The situation where a woman has an unconscious desire to be taken care of by others, and thus requires help from some outside force, usually a man.

Origin

• From the title of a 1981 book by Colette Dowling, The Cinderella Complex: Women's Hidden Fear of Independence; named after the girl from the fairy-tale Cinderella, who is rescued from her life of poverty and mistreatment by a prince.