Salvage Value #3: The Good Girl, the Desire, and the Compromise

There’s a quote from Elizabeth Taylor: “I've only slept with men I've been married to. How many women can make that claim?”

Sounds almost nun-like, even considered that she was married eight times. In the fast-turning world of Hollywood, a lifetime total of eight lovers is not a high number at all. The part she didn’t mention though was her tendency to sleep with married men while she was married to other people. The fact that she later married the married men herself doesn’t make the initial act of adultery any more excusable.

Nevertheless, the quote does illustrate two interesting points: Number one, despite all the feminist progress in the last decades, women will always be a bit self-conscious and defensive about their sexual body counts. Number two, even the ones with a less than shiny past will cherry pick facts to make themselves look better.

In previous posts I talked about men using their exes for sex to get the most Salvage Value out of them. Yes, women do the same, too. But there’s a twist, especially for the conservative type who want to play but can’t admit it to themselves. By keeping the overall body count down, they could have fun but not feel like a slut. After all, once you sleep with someone and add it onto your count, it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve done it, and under what circumstances, right?

Many don’t even do it consciously. They package it up nicely for their own ears. “I still have feelings for him.” “It might not be over yet.” Never mind that they are jerking the men around and hurting them.  As they say in American Beauty: “Never underestimate the power of denial.”

By trying too hard to be a good girl, you could become a not-very-nice person.