The push for empowerment and equal rights for women has only recently become popular and successful in the world. Women around the world have strayed from the traditional role of nurturer and housewife, to powerful CEOs and political figures. However, many controversial issues have come forth since women began their crusade for equal treatment under the law. One of these issues was a woman’s right to choose what she does with her body, referencing an abortion. Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” written in 1927, expresses a feminist movement centered around the topic. Jig’s development throughout the story and her refusal to let her boyfriend pressure her into something she didn’t want points to a very powerful feminist
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This is symbolic in that Jig has separated herself from her boyfriend and asserted herself, something women of this time period did not do. She physically detaches herself from her male companion and by doing so, she gives herself a chance to think about her situation without an overbearing man pressuring her. When she returns to him, her submissiveness has vanished and she asks if they can stop talking about the abortion (477). Jig’s annoyance with her boyfriend is made clear with this line and she wants no more of his harassment. She even threatens to scream if he does not drop the subject. Jig’s standing up for herself against him displays female defiance in a male dominated …show more content…
However, some also believe that she kept the baby against her boyfriend’s wishes. If she did keep the baby, not only did she defy her boyfriend, she defied the social norms of that era. Today’s women have come a very long way since Hemingway’s time, but they still face unreasonable expectations and men still dominate many areas of society such as the work force and politics. Despite being known as a “woman hater,” Hemingway sympathized with women of the time who were confined to the traditional roles of homemaker. In modern society, revolutionary women like Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Oprah Winfrey, are taking action to improve the quality of life of women by standing up for what’s right and demanding equality for all. Women today have many more option than Jig ever had, but none of it would be possible if no one had stood up and said “no” to
This is symbolic in that Jig has separated herself from her boyfriend and asserted herself, something women of this time period did not do. She physically detaches herself from her male companion and by doing so, she gives herself a chance to think about her situation without an overbearing man pressuring her. When she returns to him, her submissiveness has vanished and she asks if they can stop talking about the abortion (477). Jig’s annoyance with her boyfriend is made clear with this line and she wants no more of his harassment. She even threatens to scream if he does not drop the subject. Jig’s standing up for herself against him displays female defiance in a male dominated …show more content…
However, some also believe that she kept the baby against her boyfriend’s wishes. If she did keep the baby, not only did she defy her boyfriend, she defied the social norms of that era. Today’s women have come a very long way since Hemingway’s time, but they still face unreasonable expectations and men still dominate many areas of society such as the work force and politics. Despite being known as a “woman hater,” Hemingway sympathized with women of the time who were confined to the traditional roles of homemaker. In modern society, revolutionary women like Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Oprah Winfrey, are taking action to improve the quality of life of women by standing up for what’s right and demanding equality for all. Women today have many more option than Jig ever had, but none of it would be possible if no one had stood up and said “no” to