"And these things she knows by reason, where as the maiden knows them
only by instinct, like the animal. Hence these abominable jerseys, these
artificial humps on the back, these bare shoulders, arms, and throats.

"Women, especially those who have passed through the school of marriage,
know very well that conversations upon elevated subjects are only
conversations, and that man seeks and desires the body and all that
ornaments the body. Consequently, they act accordingly? If we reject
conventional explanations, and view the life of our upper and lower
classes as it is, with all its shamelessness, it is only a vast
perversity. You do not share this opinion? Permit me, I am going to
prove it to you (said he, interrupting me).

"You say that the women of our society live for a different interest
from that which actuates fallen women. And I say no, and I am going
to prove it to you. If beings differ from one another according to
the purpose of their life, according to their INNER LIFE, this will
necessarily be reflected also in their OUTER LIFE, and their exterior
will be very different. Well, then, compare the wretched, the despised,
with the women of the highest society: the same dresses, the same
fashions, the same perfumeries, the same passion for jewelry, for
brilliant and very expensive articles, the same amusements, dances,
music, and songs. The former attract by all possible means; so do the
latter. No difference, none whatever!

"Yes, and I, too, was captivated by jerseys, bustles, and curly hair."