“The zipless f*ck is absolutely pure. It is free of ulterior motives. There is no power game. The man is not “taking” and the woman is not “giving.” No one is attempting to cuckold a husband or humiliate a wife. No one is trying to prove anything or get anything out of anyone.”
Isadora wishes for sexual intimacy that is pure of all the constraints that typically impact the encounter between a man and a woman. Being in a marriage with an abusive and aggressive husband, she is aware of the toxic power game that exists among couples. Even though that sort of sexual experience is ultimately impossible since one partner will always harbor hidden agendas. Isadora fetishizes this idea of the sex of which she searches for in her escapades.
“Maybe marriages are best in middle age. When all the nonsense falls away and you realize you have to love one another because you're going to die anyway.”
Disillusioned by her marriage to Bennett, Isadora considers the failures of marriage at a young age. Through her experiences she finds marital relationships to be manipulative and cynical because the spouses possess high expectations of each other. However, in middle age, all the expectations lower and the only factor that really matters is affection. Thus, at this point the marriage might be successful.
“There are no atheists on turbulent airplanes.”
Akin to the title, the assertion refers to the anxiety of flying in that on board an airplane during turbulence the occupants get in touch with their religious beliefs. As Isadora is on board she thinks of the dangers of flying which also acts as a metaphor of her own life. In her journey, she seeks freedom and sexual freedom away from her abusive and banal marital life and the fear of it thereof. She gets in touch with herself more and believes in affection through Adrian. The disorder in her life in regard to the dysfunction in her marriage forces her to see a different perception of love, hence belief in love.
