Essay on Male Chauvinism in John Updike and Ernest Hemingway

Male Chauvinism in John Updike and Ernest Hemingway John Updike and Ernest Hemingway struggle to portray women in a positive light; because of this, Updike’s and Hemingway’s readers come away from their stories with the effect that the lead male characters are chauvinistic, which can be defined as â€Å"prejudiced devotion to any attitude or cause† (â€Å"Chauvinism† 228). In John Updike’s â€Å"A P†, three girls shop in the local A P and are described head to toe by the nineteen year old cashier, Sammy: â€Å"The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to†¦show more content†¦He continues after that to analyze the girls’ every move and feature, saying that the â€Å"bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones† was â€Å"more than pretty,† and that ‘Queenie’ â€Å"turned so slow it made my stomach rub the inside of my apron† (148). Sammy and Stokesie then have conversation while watching the girls walk. â€Å"‘Oh, Daddy,’ Stokesie said beside me. ‘I feel so faint.’ ‘Darling,’ I said. ‘Hold me tight’† (149). Even the man behind the meat counter, McMahon, began to watch and react to the girls by â€Å"patting his mouth and looking after them sizing up their joints† (149). Sammy continues with his chauvinistic ways when â€Å"she lifts a folded dollar bill out of the hollow at the center of her nubbled pink top. The jar went heavy in my hand. I thought that was so cute† (150), and when he uncreases â€Å"the bill, tenderly as you may imagine, it just having come from between the two smoothest scoops of vanilla I had ever known were there† (151). Through Updike’s descriptions and dialogue, he has made the male characters in â€Å"A P† come across as the stereotypical male pig. After Lengel, the manager, informs the girls that â€Å"this isn’t the beach† (150), Sammy immediately blurts out, â€Å"I quit.† â€Å"The girls, and who’d blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say ‘I quit,’ to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero†