328
PARTISAN REVIEW
uVltles, "condemn her to a subordinate role" is a mere assertion, not
very convincing to the unmuscled, light breathing, nervously unstable,
blushing feminine reality.
Arabian warfare is indeed an extreme situation. But what about
solitary walks through the town after midnight? It is true that a wom–
an's freedom to enjoy this simple pleasure would be greatly increased
if men had no aggressive sexual feelings toward her. Like a stray dog,
also weaker than men, she might roam the world at will, arousing no
more notice than a few pats on the head or an irritable kick now and
then. Whether such a change is possible in the interest of the weaker
sex is, as we say, very doubtful.
There is the notion
in
The Second Sex,
and in other radical
books
on the subject, that if it were not for the tyranny of custom women's
sexual life would be characterized by the same aggressiveness, greed and
command as the male. This is by no means certain: so much seems to
lead right back where we've always been. Society must, it seems, in–
hibit to some extent the sexuality of all human beings. It has succeeded
in restraining men much less than women. Brothels, which have existed
from the earliest times, are to say the least a rarity for the use of
women. And yet women will patronize opium dens and are frequently
alcoholic, activities wildly destructive to their home life, beauty, man–
ners and status and far more painful and time-consuming than having
children. Apparently a lot of women are dying for dope and cocktails;
nearly all are somewhat thrifty, cautious and a little lazy about hunting
sex. Is it necessarily an error that many people think licentious women
are incapable of experiencing the slightest degree of sexual pleasure and
are driven to their behavior by an encyclopedic curiosity to know
if
such a thing exists? A wreck of a man, tracking down girls in
his
Chevrolet, at least can do
that!
Prostitutes are famously cold; pimps,
who must also suffer professional boredom, are not automatically felt
to be impotent. Homosexual women, who have rebelled against their
"conditioning" in the most crucial way, do not appear to "cruise" with
that truly astonishing, ageless zest of male homosexuals. A pair seems
to find each other sufficient. Drunken women who pick up a strange
man look less interested in a sexual partner than jn a companion for a
drink the next morning. There is a staggering amount of evidence that
points to the idea that women set a price of one kind or another on
sexual intercourse; you set a price on what comes hard; they are
so
often not in the mood.
This is not to say women aren't interested in sex
at all.
They clearly
want a "lot of it," but in the end the men of the world seem to want
