How we cite our quotes:
Quote #1
And so, while not enjoying it at all, she had had sex as often as her lover wanted it, sometimes every single night. (1.7.4)
Meridian has just become sexually active and she's already over it. So why doesn't she just stop? We can't say for sure, but, like Meridian, we'd blame her mother by not preparing her for her own sexuality. Gee, thanks mom.
Quote #2
For she could only make male friends only when she was sexually involved with a lover who was always near—if only in the way the new male friends thought of her as "So-an-so's Girl." (1.7.10)
Here we see sex linked with the idea of "possession." Meridian is constantly looked at by men as a sexual object, and the only way to escape that dynamic is by becoming someone else's sexual object. Weird, huh? Like many women, however, Meridian doesn't really have any other alternatives, except to shut off contact with men altogether, which might not be such a bad idea, now that we think about it.
Quote #3
She did not see how he could feel she was less interested in sex, for she had felt she had never shown anything approaching interest. (1.7.33)
Eddie and Meridian have very different understandings of their sexual relationship. Unsurprisingly, we're taking Meridian's side on this one—she shouldn't feel pressure to have sex with him unless she actually wants to. As we come to learn, however, Eddie is more interested in the act itself than he is in Meridian.