How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph), with the exception of Part V, which runs (Part#. "Short Title". Paragraph). Part V has no numbered chapters—only title headings.
Quote #10
She was in fact much more natural naked than dressed, as if in rejecting her clothes she was also rejecting the difficult condition of womanhood in order to become simply a human being, without sexual characteristics. As if sex resided in clothes and nakedness were a state of sexual neutrality. (VII.14.8)
There's a lot that Jan doesn't understand about Edwige, but this is perhaps the thing that makes him most uncomfortable. Just like her silence during lovemaking, Edwige's nakedness shows a desire to defy expectations. She wants to abandon the usual signs of femininity to take on a more androgynous identity. There's no desire to be he or she in Edwige's mind: she just wants to be. Jan is pretty attached to his masculinity and really can't follow the logic.