heroism. InThe Sun Also Rises, Hemingway explores how a man's ability to provide for a woman includes financial standing, social status, and physical strength. Consider how he idealizes the bullfighters in Pamplona as the epitome of masculine strength and heroism.

When Brett confesses to Jake that she cannot resist Romero, Jake understands, because he, too, sees Romero as a figure of the ideal male form. Even though Jake is in love with Brett, he knows that he will never be good enough for her, because he is impotent and thus not able to physically provide for her.

Brett's brief affair with Romero reinforces the idea that male athleticism and physical strength constitutes an ideal form of masculinity. But her eventual return to Mike suggests that a man's ability to provide money and social status is also an important part of being a strong man. This latter point brings to mind what Wharton focuses on in Custom of the Country—how the ideal man is often viewed as a man who is successful in the business world.

Both The Custom of the Country and The Sun Also Rises portray women as eternally unsatisfied individuals who need men to take care of them. In both texts, femininity is typically expressed through feminine sexuality and romantic relationships with men. For instance, consider how both Undine and Brett are never completely satisfied with the man they are with. Until the end of the stories, they bounce from man to man, and when they are with a man they seem to always want a different man. For instance, consider how Undine does not care to visit Ralph while he is sick or how Brett assumes that Mike will still be there for her as she has affairs with Cohn and Romero. Brett even seems to expect Jake will always be there for her, even though she knows she could never be with him because he is impotent.

Both texts also portray women as financially reliant on men, and not driven to or capable of working themselves. For instance, consider how both Undine and Brett fill their days with social engagements and romantic meetings but seem to have no real professional identities separate from the social status granted to them by the men they are with. Jake even goes so far to describe Brett saying, “She can’t go anywhere alone.” In portraying female behavior as hyper-sexualized and dependent on men, both texts seem to suggest women desire to be taken care of by men.

However, Brett’s inability to commit to one man in The Sun Also Rises and Undine's constant lack of satisfaction with men in her life also makes them both somewhat independent women. Brett for example loves to be spoiled by men and to have many males paying attention to her, but she cannot give herself completely to one man. This presents femininity as a destructive force of sorts, as Brett uses it to play with men’s emotions and spark tension between men, while ultimately maintaining her own independence.

The reader also eventually learns that Brett’s one authentic love died of dysentery during the war, and since she has been unable to commit to a strong romantic relationship. This point contributes to the book’s idea that the war created a lack of meaning and authentic relationships in this generation. Meanwhile, Undine uses her beauty to get what she wants from men, and moves on to the next man when she thinks she can get more. Thus both women strategically use the power of their femininity for personal gain, which suggests that even if they are unable to be truly alone, they are confident that they can always find a man to be there with them.