Exactly how steamy is this story?
PG-13
The whole point of sex in Way of the Peaceful Warrior is basically to show how it's yet another urge Dan has to learn how to control. There is essentially nothing said, for example, about the role of sex in society or in affectionate bonding or in much of any other regard.
Dan begins the novel with frequent "amorous visits" (sex) from a young woman named Susie (P.8). But in the course of his training, Socrates tells Dan to “keep it in his pants” (4.200) until he's developed greater maturity. Despite this, Dan sleeps with the nurse Valerie: “And for dessert, I had several helpings of Valerie” (4.232). Previously, as her hospital patient, he had made unsolicited sexual advances on her, a complete stranger, at her workplace—“Every time you go by, my pulse gets erotic” (a pun for erratic) (4.108)—which she, perhaps implausibly, did not mind. (4.230).
What might it say about the book that the novel's language in the above examples is so locker room-y? How are women treated in this story? For example, two female characters (separately) drop everything, no questions asked, to move across the country and live with Dan as soon as he proposes the idea over the phone.
The book is almost exclusively about two men talking of their ideas, and we're having trouble finding a female character, other than Dan's mother, who appears in any other capacity than as a sex object or love interest. Are there any? Is the novel's attitude toward women in any way connected with its commercial function as a self-help book dedicated to maximizing individual happiness without regard for effects on society (see Theme 4, Dreams, Hopes, and Plans). Or are we simply being prudish and making a big deal out of nothing?