Pamuk uses the novel to explore the repressive gender dynamics that marked 1970s and 1980s Istanbul. This period marked a gradual shift in Turkish culture, as the country’s various political upheavals ushered in a secularized high society that clashed with traditional gender roles and expectations. Pamuk’s characters wrestle with issues of virginity, promiscuity, and class, revealing ideals of modesty as a tool of repression for women.

At the start of the novel, Kemal reveals that he and Sibel regularly had sex in his office, using the public aspect of the setting to drive a sense of youthful excitement and danger in their relationship. While these sexual escapades have no impact on Kemal’s reputation as a man, Sibel becomes more self-conscious and wary of sex before marriage. Sibel wants to project an image of moral conservatism that cements their status among the society elite. Even though they have had sex in the past, Sibel fears the judgment of her social peers as a threat if she continues to have sex before marriage. Kemal resents Sibel’s reservations because they interfere with his own desires, ignoring the sexual double standards Sibel faces as a woman.

Kemal’s affair with Füsun further threatens Sibel socially. Though the offense primarily belongs to Kemal as the person who initiated the affair, Sibel feels humiliated that Kemal would choose someone with a lower-class background over her: “She’s a common shopgirl” (191). She is not alone in this sentiment as Zaim understands the compromising position it puts her in: “She has no idea how to explain the situation. How is she going to face people? What can she say? ‘My fiancé fell in love with a shopgirl, so we’ve separated’? She’s very upset, she’s heartbroken” (215). Sibel is also well aware that ending the engagement will impact her reputation more than it does Kemal’s, even though Sibel has done nothing wrong. Sibel’s vulnerability, even as the wronged party, reinforces how strictly ideas of feminine “modesty” and respectability are policed in Istanbul society.

Even Füsun acknowledges the value of modesty when she accepts Kemal’s proposal to enter a relationship together. While explaining her resolution to divorce Feridun, she stresses to Kemal that she and Feridun have never had sex—a claim that Kemal finds hard to believe given their eight years of marriage. However, this pretext is important for Füsun to claim that Kemal is the only man she’s ever had sex with, casting herself as a still-desirable, modest marriage partner in an attempt to secure his affection. In these ways, both Sibel and Füsun face disadvantages in their relationship dynamics with Kemal due to the double standards around female sexuality and modesty.