For the entire movie, Jeff is bedridden and powerless, and reliant on the care from women, especially from Lisa. She wants him to be a domestic husband rather than a traveling adventurer, creating tension between the two. In the Thorwald apartment, Jeff sees a reflection of his own situation. Mrs. Thorwald is bedridden and a constant nag to Mr. Thorwald creating tension between the two. There is no sexuality in the relationship, but rather Thorwald is totally stripped of his power because he must take care of his sick wife. She mocks and belittles him to the point where he cannot take it any more. This is why he feels that the only way out of his situation is through murder. In both apartments, the men are desexualized by their circumstances.

This is why Jeff literally wants to see murder. He feels as though he is totally desexualized and powerless and wants to see the murder because it shows that there is a way out of this feeling. As Rushing states, “Jeff identifies with Thorwald who lives out of “the real deal of his desire” - killing the nagging wife who ties him down, freeing the male subject for further adventures” (317). Jeff wants to be free again as he was when he was a traveling photographer. Lisa, though, is taking this opportunity to tie Jeff down to domesticate him into a husband. “The woman represents a trap in this case the trap of domestic status” (Rushing, 316).

In the movie, all that Jeff sees is men who cannot pursue their own sexual wants and needs, amplifying his own fear of women and sexuality and his desire to see murder. In the case of Miss Torso, the scantily clad dancer, many men seem to desire her, but she ultimately holds the control as she thwarts every man's sexual advance. With Miss Torso, however, like murder, the audience and Jeff desires to see her become more than a tease. The husband in the newlyweds is literally sexually controlled by his wife and every time he comes up for air, he is called back for what the audience and Jeff presumes to be more sex. Ms. Lonely Hearts is unable to “trap a man” (Hitchcock, Rear Window) and when a man makes sexual advances on her, she does not like it, but wants to be in control herself. The couple with the dog is totally desexualized and there is no outward show of sexual emotion. When the dog is murdered however, it is interesting to note that the wife says the murder was done “because it loved you” (Hitchcock). This is interesting because in both Thorwald and Jeff's case, their significant others probably love them, and both men desire to be rid of them. In all of these cases, Jeff sees only negatives that go along with love and sexuality, making his own fears even worse. Obviously, the worst case that Jeff sees is Thorwald's and therefore, when Thorwald murders his wife, he sees himself through Thorwald. He does not actually see the murder, but can empathize with Thorwald's situation and can see why Thorwald would want to be rid of his wife.

Through the movie, the viewer can make the assumption that sex is dependent on love, but that love is a source of misery. We see this through the neighbors' various pursuits of sex or love. The people that have love are unhappy because they have become desexualized, either through sex acts, with the newlyweds, or through no sex acts, as is the case with Thorwald. On the other side, however, the people that do not have love (the pianist and Ms. Lonely Hearts) are unhappy because they do not have love and therefore, no sex. Jeff soon realizes subconsciously through what he thinks is murder in the Thorwald household that murder is the only way out of the misery of relationships. He is not sure of what he actually wants- does he want to be with the woman he loves and become like these other married men, or does he want to have no love at all?

Ultimately, the film relates murder and sexuality as the two things that the audience and Jeff presume occurs, but never actually sees. Jeff desires to see both sex and murder through his gaze and “window shopping” because he sees himself in his various neighbors' different situations, both in and out of relationships. He is able to identify the most, however, with Thorwald. Thorwald's wife is the source of his tension, just as Lisa is Jeff's source of tension. He wants to see the murder that he thinks happens because he is also desexualized, powerless, and in a tense relationship just as Thorwald is. Lisa is a trap to Jeff and he realizes this, but does not know how to deal with it and as a result desires to see the murder. This is how the film, Rear Window, relates love and sexuality to murder.