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The Cinderella Complex describes women's hidden fear of independence and the trap of financial dependency.

When women trade their autonomy for a partner's ambition, the cost can be catastrophic.

Viral trends like "looking for a man in finance" reveal that some young women still seek the same trap.

I still remember the first time I heard the story of Betty Broderick, the famous wronged woman who murdered her ex-husband and his new wife as they lay sleeping in their beds. Betty Broderick, one of the most notorious murderers of recent times, died last week at the age of 78, having never tasted the freedom she campaigned for. She was never granted parole, having shown no remorse or comprehension of the fact that she had killed two people in cold blood. Decades after the murders, Betty still seethed with fury at the injustice of having spent her youth supporting her husband Dan, putting him through medical school and law school, raising their children and enduring years of hardship, only for him to leave her for a younger version of herself and discard her on the scrapheap of life as she entered middle age. Betty Broderick had truly been traded in for a newer model. Anyone who saw Dan Broderick's new young wife, Linda Kolkena, was struck by her uncanny resemblance to Betty herself.

When I first heard the chilling story of Betty Broderick's catastrophic fall from grace, I had just been unceremoniously dumped myself, albeit I was only 22 and not 40 with three kids. But that particular brand of fiery rage at rejected love made me resonate somewhat with the ranting, raving Broderick, who could never come to terms with the betrayal and decided it was better to murder than to move on. Betty was a cautionary tale of how not to handle a breakup. But as time moved on, our understanding of the psychological underpinnings of the Broderick case evolved. Betty Broderick was possibly one of the most extreme examples of what author Colette Dowling termed the Cinderella Complex.

I have often wondered whether Betty Broderick ever read The Cinderella Complex, as it was released in the early 1980s, right around the time Betty's marriage fell apart and her downward spiral began. It was an instant bestseller, with Betty Friedan herself praising it: "The Cinderella Complex will touch a nerve with many women."........

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