He hasn’t gotten a thing but a goodnight kiss, that’s all I have given him, Stella. I want his respect. And men don’t want anything they get too easy. But on the other hand men lose interest quickly. Especially when the girl is over – thirty. They think a girl over thirty ought to – the vulgar term is – "put out."
– Tennessee Williams
A Streetcar Named Desire, Scene 5. The stereotypical genders roles of the period are shown here as a nervous Blanche prepares for her date with Mitch. She tells Stella that she wants Mitch’s respect, revealing that she has only given him a goodnight kiss because she doesn’t want him to think her "too easy." But the flip side of that is Mitch could lose interest in her, she admits. Blanche sounds desperate and lonely.