Holden Caulfield Sexism

“All of a sudden, this girl came up to me and said, “Holden Caulfield!” Her name was Lillian Simmons. My brother D.B. used to go around with her for a while. She had very big knockers”(Salinger 96). Salinger portrays Holden as a whiny teenager that slacks off on his homework and performs illegal acts such as drinking and purchasing prostitutes. On top of that, Holden displays many sexist behaviors. The novel ends up having very sexist overtones because of the way the protagonist thinks about women and the way he treats them, as well as the roles women are relegated to in the novel.
Holden is a maturing boy driven by testosterone and preoccupied by thoughts of women. He’s compelled to comment on the sexual appeal every woman he meets. “She

One would bring up the nuns and how they are good against my argument. But you must remember that Holden demeaned them as well. Holden talked about how he felt sorry for how poor they were. How “they were these very inexpensive looking suitcases” and how he hates when somebody has cheap suitcases. He pitied how “All the two of them were eating for breakfast was toast and coffee”. Holden goes on to say “I hate it if I’m eating bacon and eggs or something and somebody else is eating only toast and coffee”(Salinger 122). Holden puts the nuns, or at least acts like they are beneath him because they don’t have money or luxurious items. And of course he also had to make a sexual comment towards one of the nuns. “She had on those glasses with sort of iron rims that aren’t too attractive, but she had a helluva kind face”(Salinger 122). Another argument some one would have is how Holden treats Jane with respect and holds her to a higher standard. It would be worth bring up the one time he was demeaning towards her. “Anyway, I was telling you about that afternoon where Jane and I came close to necking”(Salinger 87). Having or not having kissed someone does not show the level of expertise you have with women. It also should be a private matter and not spoken about in public. Doing so invades her privacy and is rude, if not consented