Cinderella complex
nounEtymology From the title of a book by Colette Dowling, The Cinderella Complex: Women's Hidden Fear of Independence (1981). Named after the girl from the fairy-tale Cinderella, who is rescued from her life of poverty and mistreatment by a prince.
1
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.