Madonna-whore complex
Madonna-whore complex noun: 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.
Noun
Madonna-whore complex (plural Madonna-whore complexes)
- 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.
- ‘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.1973 November 18, Gene Siskel, quoting Martin Scorsese, “Along the ‘Streets’ of Little Italy …”, in Chicago Tribune, section 6, page 6
- 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...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
Examples of Madonna-whore complex in a sentence
- 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?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:
- Under the Madonna-whore complexes that plagued me and most boys, there was a deep Christian fear of ourselves as animals, creatures of flesh more than spirit.2013, Andrew Hudgins, “Morning, Ladies!”, in The Joker: A Memoir, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 246:
- Like other expressions of Madonna-whore complexes, there is an idea that bad things don’t happen to good girls.2020, Mikki Kendall, “Of #FastTailedGirls and Freedom”, in Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women White Feminists Forgot, Bloomsbury...
Forms of Madonna-whore complex
| plural | Madonna-whore complexes |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Madonna/whore complex |
Origin of Madonna-whore complex
Madonna here refers to the Virgin Mary.
Questions about Madonna-whore complex
- What does Madonna-whore complex mean?
- Madonna-whore complex means 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.
- How do you use Madonna-whore complex in a sentence?
- 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?
- What part of speech is Madonna-whore complex?
- Madonna-whore complex is a noun.
- What is the plural of Madonna-whore complex?
- The plural of Madonna-whore complex is Madonna-whore complexes.
Words near Madonna-whore complex in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Madonna-whore complex (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “Madonna-whore complex.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/madonna-whore_complex. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.