Gentleman Prefer Blondes & Portnoy's Complaint

The nets of social convention and social respectability that often threaten to permanently entangle individual expression are the set of mainstream norms rejected by both Lorelei in Loos' Gentleman Prefer Blondes and Alex in Roth's Portnoy's Complaint.

In Gentleman Prefer Blondes we are treated to the diary and experiences of a "professional lady" who shuns conventional ethics and values by basically being a kept woman by a series of men, (Loos 1994). She is sent abroad by her protector in order "to be broadened," (Loos 1994). While abroad she has a number of experiences including a meeting with both the Prince of Wales and a certain "Dr. Froyd" in Vienna. She reveals about her meeting with the doctor, "Dr. Froyd said that all I needed was to cultivate a few inhibitions," (Loos 1994). It is this lack of inhibition that enables Lorelei to make her way in life as a single, attractive female who manages quite well on the affections and riches of men. The above line also shows Loos' skill with sarcasm. By its use she is able to make us question the often stifling bourgeois values that keep people from being happy. By the use of sarcasm she actually turns Freud's theories that inhibition causes neuroses on its head without moralizing about it or social values. Because of this subtlety, the impact of her message is stronger.

Lorelei's reference to Dr. Froyd is also symbolic of the fact that she is really seeking her father's