The Bell Jar

by Sylvia Plath

by thinking this woman too was just an animal like the rest, so if he loved anybody he would never go to bed with her. He’d go to a whore if he had to and keep the woman he loved free of all that dirty business.

Example of the women’s stereotypical bifurcation - the wife and the whore. The wife has respect, but no sex appeal. The whore has no respect, but possesses the appeal. This stereotype highlights that a woman cannot be respected with sex appeal in the same sense that a man can.