"My mother said it was simple to keep a man, you must be a maid in the living room, a cook in the kitchen and a whore in the bedroom. I said I'd hire the other two and take care of the bedroom bit"
About this Quote
Her mother’s formula is the mid-century marriage economy in miniature: domestic service plus sexual availability, packaged as “simple.” Hall’s rebuttal is the late-20th-century upgrade, delivered by someone whose career depends on converting desirability into leverage. “I’d hire the other two” isn’t just a joke about outsourcing chores; it’s a declaration that the work women were expected to do for free can be priced, delegated, and refused. In one sentence, she moves the conversation from virtue to transaction, from duty to choice.
The “bedroom bit” is where the cultural static lives. Hall claims sexual agency, but she does it inside a framework that still treats sex as a performance for “keeping a man.” That tension is the subtext: empowerment narrated in the language of the very system it’s trying to outsmart. She’s not burning down the script; she’s rewriting her role so she gets top billing.
Coming from a model - a profession perpetually accused of being decorative - the line doubles as self-defense. If you’re going to be objectified, Hall implies, you might as well invoice the fantasy and keep the keys.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Verified source: Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations (Ned Sherrin, 2008)ISBN: 9780199237166 · ID: 5q4XBa5jsy8C
Evidence:
... My mother said it was simple to keep a man , you must be a maid in the living room , a cook in the kitchen and a whore in the bedroom . I said I'd hire the other two and take care of the bedroom bit . 70 I married many men , A ton of ... |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Hall, Jerry. (2026, February 8). My mother said it was simple to keep a man, you must be a maid in the living room, a cook in the kitchen and a whore in the bedroom. I said I'd hire the other two and take care of the bedroom bit. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-mother-said-it-was-simple-to-keep-a-man-you-122315/
Chicago Style
Hall, Jerry. "My mother said it was simple to keep a man, you must be a maid in the living room, a cook in the kitchen and a whore in the bedroom. I said I'd hire the other two and take care of the bedroom bit." FixQuotes. February 8, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-mother-said-it-was-simple-to-keep-a-man-you-122315/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My mother said it was simple to keep a man, you must be a maid in the living room, a cook in the kitchen and a whore in the bedroom. I said I'd hire the other two and take care of the bedroom bit." FixQuotes, 8 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-mother-said-it-was-simple-to-keep-a-man-you-122315/. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
