Babbitt Women and Femininity Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)

Quote #4

[The] strange thing is that the longer one knew the women, the less alike they seemed; while the longer one knew the men, the more alike their bold patterns appeared. (8.2.61)

In his excursions through life, George Babbitt makes a funny observation about men and women. The more he gets to know women, the more they seem like individuals. But men just start to seem like they're all the same. This is probably because men usually don't pay attention to much more than women's appearances when they first meet them.

Quote #5

"I could also go into the fact that for our daughters who show an interest in highbrow music and may want to teach it, having an A1 local organization is of great benefit." (21.1.22)

A male member of Babbitt's social club doesn't want to be labeled "highbrow" for saying that he loves classical music. But he also thinks that it might be good to bring an orchestra to town so that men's daughters can enjoy it. Too bad the guy can't admit to his buddies that he likes violins.

Quote #6

"Oh, of course, these women that try to imitate men, and play golf and everything, and ruin their complexions and spoil their hands!" (4.2.16)

Tanis Judique enjoys having George Babbitt around to spend time with her. So she makes sure to act as feminine as possible when he's around in order to keep his interest. One of the best ways to act feminine, apparently, is to criticize women who try to "act like men" by playing golf.