Society's Dance: Sexuality and Expectations in 'Heartbreak Tango' Anonymous 10th Grade

“Because orgasmic sex would lead to women’s autonomy, knowing who you are and what we want: women are not going to follow what some jackass tells us we must do. Not all women are going to get married, be monogamous, and raise a family. It will destroy the current social structure based on a sexual double standard that we are currently living under” (Betty Dodson).

Women have always been treated unfairly in regards of sexual relationships. It can be seen how men have been treated with more respect than women have in Manuel Puig’s novel, Heartbreak Tango. One example of inequality is how men are seen as simply being regular men when they sleep with multiple people. Another is how women are seen as damaged goods when they do exactly the same as the man does. A third example is lower class people being treated worse than higher class people, and how that plays into the topic of sexual interactions between men and women.

Men are seen as only partaking in typical male behavior when they have sex with multiple people in Heartbreak Tango. At one point, Juan Carlos tells Pancho “When you’re with a chick in a place where nobody can see you, don’t waste any time talking” (Heartbreak Tango 85). This behavior is what is seen as okay in a...