From now on, I can have a wonderful time com-plaining about being a woman.
This part is clearly showing the gender roles of the 1950's. Hella can only be a true woman if she has a man to take care of. It's not that she does it unconsciously, she is fully aware that this is the quality that makes her a women. Even though she classifies it as a "humiliating necessity" she still welcomes the idea with open arms because there wasn't another option for women of the time.To even further the idea of feminism in the 1950’s Hella claims she will be “obedient and devoted” to David being the most important qualities of a women. To me her whole trip to Paris was because she had this fear of having to be devoted to a "stranger" for the rest of her life. And she ultimately came back because there was something more terrifying about being alone and not fulfilling proper gender roles. Later when she learns that Giovanni has been cheating on her she is more concerned over “forgetting how to be a woman” than anything else.
This is a link to a bunch of advertisements of women's roles in the 50’s: https://www.pinterest.com/yourbrit54/ads-no-more/