Esther and Sex

I wanted to look into Esther's attitudes towards sex over the course of the book. In the beginning of the book, Esther is super freaked out by Doreen and Lenny having what was basically just weird sex. She pretty clearly feels unclean after this incident, as she bathed right after to both literally and symbolically cleanse her of impurity. In class, we talked a lot about Esther just generally seemed freaked out by the concept of sex and while I think this is true to a degree, I don't think it's the full reason why Esther has such a bad reaction to what happened. I feel like a lot of Esther's problem with what was happening was the fact that Doreen, who Esther had sort of idolized for being so in charge, was put in a submissive position. Esther sees Doreen getting called a bitch, bitten, and swung around while her legs are thrashing and she's shrieking. In this scene, Esther doesn't see Doreen as having any agency or ability to do what she wants to Lenny. She sees a man put Doreen in a sexually submissive position and she doesn't like it. I think a large part of what Esther doesn't like about this scene is the fact the even Doreen, who Esther looks up to for her confidence, takes a submissive role during sex. At the end of the book, after Esther has a sexual encounter with Irwin, she calls him the next day to ask him to pay her bills and then lets him know that what happened was a one time thing. Most of the time, this sort of behavior is associated with men, but Esther is reversing the traditional roles. She's being assertive with what she wants, unlike Doreen who Esther sees as just letting the man have his way with her.

Comments

  1. AkashMarch 8, 2019 at 6:18 PM

    Interesting idea. I like how you connect Esther's disgust to her larger thoughts on women in society.
    It might be true that Esther doesn't like Doreen letting herself be put in a submissive position, since Esther wants to more like Betsy after.

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  2. Smita NairMarch 8, 2019 at 7:57 PM

    This may be is why she has such a fraught relationship with sex throughout the book. She sees sex as part of a progression towards childbirth and then forced motherhood, all the while kept in subservience. That's why when she gets birth control, she learns she doesn't have to be submissive and can even have sex for pleasure like how men have the capacity to do without worrying about repercussions.

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  3. Dylan BMarch 10, 2019 at 8:39 PM

    I think that it's clear that Esther has a physical desire for sex, but the implications that come with it are what she dislikes. If she is able to limit the societal norms that come with sex, she feels much more comfortable. Good post!

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    Replies
    1. SJMarch 10, 2019 at 9:30 PM

      Honestly most of Esther's problems with the way people, especially men, act is because of how the implications differ by the gender. That said, I agree with you. I think also she wants to limit the over all repercussions of her actions, with the use of birth control. She wants to be able to do things and "get away with them" like men.

      Delete
  4. HenryMarch 10, 2019 at 10:54 PM

    This is an interesting take that I hadn't thought about. I think that this is another example, like with Buddy, of Esther seeing an incident as an indication of her views about society as a whole. What freaks her out about this encounter is what freaks her out about sex in general.

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