Exactly how steamy is this story?
PG-13
While we never see any sex taking place in "The Gilded Six-Bits," it's hinted at quite often. Plus, a story that introduces a character in the nude with "stiff young breasts thrust forward aggressively" (4) is borderline risqué, especially for the 1930s.
When we see Missie and Joe flirting, touching and sex is portrayed as natural and fun. When we see what happens between Missie and Slemmons, sex becomes more like a negotiation and an exchange of goods—he wants her body and she wants his money. Unfortunately, after they do it, the sex life between Missie and Joe goes way, way down the drain. There's no nookie in the household for three months and when "youth triumphs" (they have sex)…it doesn't fix their issues.