[5]: 79  As Morisot was both a wife and mother, unlike other female artists such as Mary Cassatt and Rosa Bonjeur, she experienced particular difficulties in balancing professional ambitions with domestic responsibilities.

[3]: 77  The emphasis on color instead of structure was seen as a feminine quality in works, and Morisot took inspiration from the sketches by Jean-Honoré Fragonard to embody characteristics of the Rococo style.

[3]: 97  The loose brushwork and sketchiness of the piece, Kathleen Adler argues, may be due to Morisot's freedom of having a stable career where she did not have to rely solely on dealers to sell her work.

[5]: 39 The art historians Kathleen Adler and Tamar Garb argue that the painting is "in keeping with contemporary constructions of womanhood" because the toilette was where women transformed themselves into "appealing objects of male delectation.

"[7] Anne Higonnet asserts, however, that the bathroom setting conveys a moment of creativity for women and is an invitation for viewers to come in and view this vulnerable scene.

[4]: 165–166  She explains that Morisot examined how women's bodies were objectified in society, and instead of fueling this gender dynamic, she "turned eroticism into an empty spectacle by refusing to provide the sexual content a viewer would expect.

[3]: 110  While the toilette scenes could convey eroticism through "the contours of the lithe bodies and passages of exposed skin," these undertones were counterbalanced by Morisot's "gestural brushstrokes," which placed a greater emphasis on the psychological state of her subjects.