"Madonna-whore complex" meaning in English

See Madonna-whore complex in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: Madonna-whore complexes [plural]
Etymology: Madonna here refers to the Virgin Mary. Etymology templates: {{m|en|Madonna}} Madonna Head templates: {{en-noun}} Madonna-whore complex (plural Madonna-whore complexes)
  1. (psychoanalysis) A complex said to develop in men who see women as either saintly "Madonnas" or debased prostitutes, potentially leading to the inability to maintain sexual arousal within a committed, loving relationship. Categories (topical): Psychoanalysis Synonyms: Madonna/whore complex

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for Madonna-whore complex meaning in English (4.8kB)

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          "ref": "1973 November 18, Gene Siskel, quoting Martin Scorsese, “Along the ‘Streets’ of Little Italy …”, in Chicago Tribune, section 6, page 6",
          "text": "‘Who’s That Knocking at My Door?’ [1967] was a film that dealt with a simple theme, one basic idea—a young guy trying to deal with his madonna-whore complex about women—plus a slight indication of what Little Italy was like.",
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          "ref": "1981 June 20, “Nurses: think like a man, work like a dog, smile like an angel”, in The Sydney Morning Herald, number 44,765, page 33",
          "text": "The female nurse, however, still fulfils a public stereotype, according to the nurses The Sydney Morning Herald spoke to. She suffers from the Madonna-whore complex – she is a Madonna in the ward because she “helps” people, but socially she’s a Nurse and everybody’s heard of nurses’ parties, haven’t they?",
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          "text": "The analyst clarifies the enactments into reality of a defensive dissociation of the intimate object from the sexual object, a classic Madonna-and-Whore complex.",
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          "ref": "2008, Hester Browne, The Little Lady Agency and the Prince, Pocket Books, page 375",
          "text": "“Just got here. Saw the light on my way up to the loo—then I saw your fat arse sticking up investigating Nanny’s drawers so I thought I’d pop in. I see her taste in quasi-nun’s outfits hasn’t changed since 1985,” she observed, flicking through the hangers. “Think she’s got a Madonna and whore complex?”",
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          "ref": "2017 June 4, Barbara McMichael, “Two views of life from Bellingham”, in Kitsap Sun, page 4D",
          "text": "As we’re well into the 21st century, we might have hoped that all of that Freudian hooey about the Madonna-Whore Complex could have been ditched by now, but [Rena] Priest’s work suggests that our society is still impacted by those archetypes.",
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          "ref": "2020, Mikki Kendall, “Of #FastTailedGirls and Freedom”, in Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women White Feminists Forgot, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 48",
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          "type": "quotation"
        },
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          "ref": "2008, Hester Browne, The Little Lady Agency and the Prince, Pocket Books, page 375",
          "text": "“Just got here. Saw the light on my way up to the loo—then I saw your fat arse sticking up investigating Nanny’s drawers so I thought I’d pop in. I see her taste in quasi-nun’s outfits hasn’t changed since 1985,” she observed, flicking through the hangers. “Think she’s got a Madonna and whore complex?”",
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