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John Barth, “The End of the Road”
Respect?

Don’t you understand that all this rigmarole of flattery and chivalry — the whole theatrical that men perform for women — is disrespect? Any lie is disrespect, and a relationship based on that nonsense is a lie. Chivalry is a fiction invented by men who don’t want to be bothered with taking women seriously. The minute a man and woman assent to it they stop thinking of each other as individual human beings: they assent to it precisely so they won’t have to think about their partners. Which is completely useful, of course, if sex is the only thing that’s on your mind.
women
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