Hemingway Double Standards

. In order to respect a women, she would have to be a strong individual. Many of the women Hemingway loved had individualistic leanings, but in the end would capitulate their will to his. He could not love a women he could not respect, and he could not find a women he respected (Assemi et al 40). His writings reflect his observations, and if he had found a worthy women she most likely would have been represented in his writings. Due to the balancing act of empowerment that women have engaged in over the last century, many women play it safe by not becoming too much of a threat to men. For those few men who could handle an empowered women, there are not that many to choose from. This is a problem that is decreasing with time,

How women treat each other is a main focus of this story. Connie’s mother (whose own beauty has faded) does not approve of her daughter looking at herself in the mirror too much; “Stop gawking at yourself. Who are you? You think you’re so pretty?” (Oats 1). Women are taught to make themselves pretty for men, but to paradoxically take not pride or notice of it, like its an accident. The double standards are often maintained by women who still rely on old fashioned power struggles to achieve emotional stability. This creates an odd competitiveness between mothers and their children. Connie deals with this pressure by being one girl at home and another girl away from home. At home she was punished for being aware of her beauty and power, but away from home she could indulge in her self-love. This is a common theme in literature and in culture, girls being punished for being pretty by those who were not so. The curse of beauty comes with the curse of confidence. Men are supposed to be confident, but females are punished for it. However, this is a dangerous balance, and Connie’s beauty attracts a sexual predator. Her innocence dies forever when she is sexually assaulted, and the story ends with brutal, chill finality (Oates 4). In her essay Art & Ethics, Oates writes, “All writers know this truth: things change as they are put into words because they have their most profound meaning as sensation” (77). Oates choses to write about the dark side of beauty because she wishes to represent those who are taken advantage