The Penelope Principle
Penelope waited twenty years for Odysseus to return from war. Everyone believed he was dead.
Suitors demanded she choose a new husband. She agreed she would—but only after finishing a funeral shroud for her father-in-law.
Every day, she wove. Every night, she unraveled her work.
For years, she wove by day and unraveled by night.
What looked like compliance was actually sovereignty in disguise.