Bad Boys

We often hear that some strong and independent women are attracted to or fall in love with bad boys. Erica Jong, in the new introduction to her Fear of Flying, believed by Henry Miller to be the female version of his own Tropic of Cancer, gives a reason for that experience. Jong thinks that the bad boy puts the woman in touch with the adventurous part of herself, unlocking the rebel in the self. He breaks her heart but opens her mind. I believe that this argument can also be applied to describing men's experience of being with bad girls.