In Joe Wenderoth’s “Letters to Wendy’s” and Ottessa Moshfegh’s “Disgust”, sex is a reoccurring motif that is used to create an absurd and taboo atmosphere and cause the reader to become desensitized to the idea of sex, and also depict a larger idea. In “Disgust”, Mr. Wu uses sex to establish power over women and to feel stability in his life. He is a lonely, self-conscious man, which is evidenced by when he pays women to have sex, he “insisted on getting underneath the sheets to take off his clothes” (Moshfegh 2). He also never speaks to the woman at the arcade, the supposed love of his life. However, despite his apparent meekness, he is very aggressive during sex. This is exhibited in how he “and pushed [the prostitute’s] face down into the
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Wenderoth also talks about other taboo themes like death, violence, suicide, and pedophilia. He ponders over how the patrons of the Wendy’s he’s in are going to die (Wenderoth March 14, 1997) of the Wendy’s register and how he believes Wendy’s should broadcast “non-stop hardcore pornography” (Wenderoth September 24, 1996). His bluntness about these themes is destabilizing the unspoken societal rules about how these topics are inappropriate for most settings. He uses these taboo themes to grab the reader’s attention and connects these vulgar themes to philosophical ideas. It is strange to think that someone could write something vulgar, yet philosophical about a fast food chain, but Wenderoth does this with astonishing creativity. For example, he talks about the idea of love, and how it is idiotic that people do not understand that one cannot love something that one does not know, in the context of Wendy’s customers (Wenderoth November 25, 1996 ). He uses juxtaposition in his use of vulgarity in association with a family-friendly restaurant like Wendy’s to emphasize how he believes the concept of understanding and the concept of loving are intertwined. Another example is when he is pondering whether to put his penis on the Wendy’s counter, he states that while it would not change anything, “[why should] we judge an activity by whether or not it
Wenderoth also talks about other taboo themes like death, violence, suicide, and pedophilia. He ponders over how the patrons of the Wendy’s he’s in are going to die (Wenderoth March 14, 1997) of the Wendy’s register and how he believes Wendy’s should broadcast “non-stop hardcore pornography” (Wenderoth September 24, 1996). His bluntness about these themes is destabilizing the unspoken societal rules about how these topics are inappropriate for most settings. He uses these taboo themes to grab the reader’s attention and connects these vulgar themes to philosophical ideas. It is strange to think that someone could write something vulgar, yet philosophical about a fast food chain, but Wenderoth does this with astonishing creativity. For example, he talks about the idea of love, and how it is idiotic that people do not understand that one cannot love something that one does not know, in the context of Wendy’s customers (Wenderoth November 25, 1996 ). He uses juxtaposition in his use of vulgarity in association with a family-friendly restaurant like Wendy’s to emphasize how he believes the concept of understanding and the concept of loving are intertwined. Another example is when he is pondering whether to put his penis on the Wendy’s counter, he states that while it would not change anything, “[why should] we judge an activity by whether or not it