The Challenge

Elena's desire to seduce a homosexual was a common error among women. Usually there was a point of female honor in this, a desire to test one's power against heavy odds, a feeling, perhaps, that all men were escaping from their rule and that they must be seduced again. Miguel suffered from these attempts every day. He was not effeminate. He held himself well, his gestures were manly. As soon as a woman began to display coquetry toward him, he was in a panic. He immediately foresaw the entire drama: the aggression of the woman, her interpretation of his passivity as mere timidity, her advances, his hatred of the moment when he would have to reject her. He could never do this with calm indifference. He was too tender and compassionate. He suffered at times much more than the woman, whose vanity was all that mattered.

- Elena. From Anaïs Nin's Delta of Venus.