In Aimee Bender’s short story shows that the author has a latent dislike for the main character. The way that she expressed the character showed how repulsing his actions were. The character viewed women as property. They could be used and thrown away as if it did not affect them at all.
Her story exemplifies many of the points in Showalter’s essay. She discusses how there are differences in how men portray women and how women portray themselves. In a sense, this story almost does the opposite. When Aimee Bender talks about her character, she portrays the way some men view women.
The character in Bender’s story plays the dominant role. He acts as if women are his slaves and should cater to him. His behavior towards women doesn’t change until he meets the starlet. He then starts to show some sort of remorse and feelings towards his use of women. In the end, he once again shows his ways of being emotionless.
A feminist critic would emphasize on how he would never let himself get too close to a woman. He had to keep his heart at some distance. Which leads you to the question, why? Was it a fear of hurting himself the way he hurt others that had fallen for his game? Is it a fear of commitment? Or is it his inability to open his heart. Men are usually portrayed as stronger and emotionless but in the case of this character, his actions seemed rather extreme. A critic would also find the part about him claiming to be “reasonable” because he didn’t have relations with married mothers rather humorous. How is that at all reasonable? His actions in general were unreasonable and a critic would agree.
Showalter’s point is also exemplified in the end of the story. After not hearing from the main character, the starlet was able to succeed in her next film. If the author was a man, he might have portrayed her differently. He might have made her seemed depressed and not able to be successful or dedicated because of heartbreak.