Oppression Of Women In 'No One's A Mystery'

Historically, women are often portrayed as being weaker or even inferior to men. This is shown by the belief throughout early history that women weren’t as intelligent. A real world example would be how women were unable to vote until the 20th century. In the works “No One’s a Mystery” by Elizabeth Tallent, “The hills like white elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, and “Where are you going, where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, an older man takes advantage of an innocent younger woman. The women lack worldly experience and see of the world through a lense of ignorance allowing them only to see what they hold most dear to their hearts, such as their relationships with an older man or even the family they’ve pushed away.

In “No One’s a Mystery” by Elizabeth Tallent, an eighteen-year-old girl is having a relationship with an older man. Jack “pushed me down onto the dirty floor of the pickup and kept one hand on my head” the girl says as his wife’s cadillac [passed] in the distance.” With her still on the ground “He didn't lift his hand, just raised the fingers in salute” while his wife passed. The girl is eighteen years old, only now is she legal to have sexual relations with an older man such as Jack. Although they have seen each other for the entirety of two years Jack gets her a cheap diary. Here,

Tallent is showing Jack taking advantage of her because a man who truly cared would’ve bought her a quality gift.
Tallent again stresses the youth of the girl. And goes so far as to call this eighteen-year-old girl a little kid even though she’s physical grown and having a sexual relationship with an older man. “Some little kid could cut a bare foot on one of these, Jack” the girl says. “No little kids get into this truck except for you” he replies. The girl only concerns herself with their relationship. Jack thinks that she’ll write “I love Jack… I wonder what I ever saw in Jack… It’s true he taught me something about sex… I wonder what that old guy’s name was.” He portrays a realistic version of what will happen. While his mistress thinks she’ll write. “I love Jack… Jack will be home any minute now [for dinner]... little Jack is hungry for his supper.” An unrealistic ignorant view of the future given by a young innocent girl talking about one of her first lovers.
In “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, the audience sees an older man who takes advantage of a younger, innocent woman named Jig.

Jig is pregnant and her lover wants her to abort the child or “white elephant” as Jig calls the unwanted child. Hemingway shows Jig’s innocence by saying absinthe “tastes like licorice” which seemingly is something a child would compare it to. Moreover, Jig is strictly concerned with the outcome of the operation and not the long-term consequences. “Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me” she says. The girl cares more about their relationship in the short-term than her personal health and well-being in the long

run.
The older man in this story is trying to convince the younger girl to have an operation. “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,”... “It’s not really an operation at all” he says. In the early 19th century when this story took place it was far from common for a woman to abort a fetus, the operation Hemingway talks of. The man is abusing the girl’s trust in him while he convinces her to abort the child. Hemingway presents a clear conversation between the couple, Jig asks “Then what will we do afterward?” he replies “We’ll be fine afterward. Just like we were before.” She trusts his answer ignoring that she may never feel the same physically or psychologically after going through with the abortion as long as their relationship returns to the happy equilibrium it was before the pregnancy. The man obviously has a large impact on the girl as he controls the relationship which seems is the one thing this young, innocent girl Jig portrays to care about.
Throughout the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, an older, vile man takes advantage of a younger, impressionable girl. Immediately Oates shows us Connie's two personalities. “Sometimes they did go shopping or to a movie, but sometimes they went across the highway,” Oates writes. This shows her innocent side as well as her more sexual side, she wants to grow up too fast and wants to fit in. She’s essentially an innocent girl who decided to stay home from a barbecue on a Saturday afternoon. As the text continues Arnold Friend arrives at her house. Oates describes him as having “the face of a forty-year-old baby”, “hard small muscles” and “tight faded jeans stuffed into black, scuffed boots.” Arnold friend is a forty-year-old man who impersonates a young teenager, dressing as one would, and hanging out at the restaurants they spend their time at. She’s initially attracted to this role he plays, but the first inclination takes a turn for the worst.
Arnold is omniscient. He says, “I know my Connie” before they’ve even been introduced. Arnold “took a special interest” in her and “found out all about her.” Connie begins to think “Maybe you two better go away.” However, Arnold thinks differently and is not phased by her words of discouragement. He is driven by the thought “I’m your lover honey.” He continues his advances without dismay “I don’t need to keep my promise and can come inside.”