--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ever since I’d been old enough to know…" description: "\"“Ever since I’d been old enough to know about virtue in a woman, it had seemed like a bull’s-eye painted on my head in rouge.”\" — Alexander Chee" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/alexander-chee-16129_old-enough_ever-since-i-d-been-old-enough-to-know-a_3032976.png" --- # Ever since I’d been old enough to know about virtue in a… ![“Ever since I’d been old enough to know about virtue in a woman, it had seemed like a bull’s-eye painted on my head in rouge.” quote by Alexander Chee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/alexander-chee-16129_old-enough_ever-since-i-d-been-old-enough-to-know-a_3032976.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/alexander-chee-16129_old-enough_ever-since-i-d-been-old-enough-to-know-a_3032976.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c5/alexander-chee-16129_old-enough_ever-since-i-d-been-old-enough-to-know-a_3032976.png) > ““Ever since I’d been old enough to know about virtue in a woman, it had seemed like a bull’s-eye painted on my head in rouge.”” [Alexander Chee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-chee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker feels that societal expectations of female virtue are an impossible, conspicuous target that feels humiliating. **In simple terms:** Virtue in women is seen as an unattainable, glaring standard. Key Takeaway Recognize and reject unrealistic moral expectations. Themes gender society expectations identity humiliation Mood frustrated reflective Type critical literary When to use this quote - dating - career advancement - social media presence - personal relationships Key Concepts feminist critique social pressure self‑image Questions to Reflect On - How do you define virtue for yourself? - What pressures shape your self‑image? 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Only then can we know the true measure of a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/in-order-to-know-virtue-we-must-acquaint-ourselves-with-vice-only/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [The loftiest in status are those who do not know their own status, and the most virtuous of them are those who do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-shafi-i/the-loftiest-in-status-are-those-who-do-not-know-their-own-status-and/) [Al-Shafi‘i](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-shafi-i/) ## More by Alexander Chee > [Writers aren't born, they're made - from practice, reading, and a lot of caffeine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-chee/writers-aren-t-born-they-re-made-from-practice-reading-and-a-lot-of/) [Alexander Chee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-chee/) > [I had a naiveté that I would remember the things that I had written already, but I was getting lost in the forest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-chee/i-had-a-naivet-that-i-would-remember-the-things-that-i-had-written/) [Alexander Chee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-chee/) > [“None of the young women who wanted her position knew what her position was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-chee/none-of-the-young-women-who-wanted-her-position-knew-what-her/) [Alexander Chee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-chee/) > [“Sappho isn't really meant to be read. 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