How we cite our quotes: (Part.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Things will get better. I suppose I'm just late in developing. Do you think if I got married I would like making love better? Do you think there's unconscious guilt—you know, because Cal and I aren't married? I don't feel it that way, but if it was unconscious, you wouldn't feel it, would you? (7.5.2)
The novel makes it clear that Jeannine dislikes having sex with Cal. Are there any suggestions that Jeannine may be attracted to women rather than (or as well as) men?
Quote #8
After we had finished making love, he turned to the wall and said, "Woman, you're lovely. you're sensuous. You should wear long hair and lots of eye make-up and tight clothing." Now what does this have to do with anything? I remain bewildered. (7.5.4)
The Female Man suggests that sexual desires are shaped by social conventions, are aren't wholly dependent on individual preferences. Joanna's lover wants her to conform to a feminine "ideal," one that has been presented to him through visual media like movies, advertisements, and maybe even pornography.
Quote #9
All real-men like the changed; some real-men like the half-changed; none of the real-men like real-men, for that would be abnormal. Nobody asks the changed or half-changed what they like. (8.7.2)
References to "abnormality" are always tinged with irony in The Female Man, because the word is always used to refer to sexual relationships between equals. How does this usage contribute to the novel's discussion of sexuality and sexual identity overall?