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Gender Issues In Brave New World

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Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, is a novel set in London, England of AD 2540 or 632 A.F., “After Ford” as Huxley refers to it (Baldassarro). The novel predicts developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation as well as classical conditioning that, through joint effort, impact a society as a whole. In 1999, the Modern Library ranked Brave New World as fifth place on its list of 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century (Modern Library Board Members). Then in 2003 a writer for The Observer, Robert McCrum, said that Brave New World was at number fifty-three in the “top 100 greatest novels of all time” (McCrum). It was then later listed as eighty-seven in BBC’s survey “The Big Read” (BBC). Yet despite …show more content…

From the very beginning, children played erotic games in the hatchery and conditioning center; it is normal in this society for children to take part in such “games” and to have in the process (Huxley, 31-32). It is frowned upon not to openly enjoy such erotic behavior—even for adults. There are pornographic movies called “Feelies” that stimulate more than just the eyes, but the entire body; they are described as "practically nothing but pure sensation” (Huxley, 221). There are also ceremonies where groups partake in sexual conducts, known as soma orgies, just to be happy. Just introducing these ideas to students already clashes with the basic health education curriculum that teaches that sex is for marriage. It caused a scare among parents thinking that reading this kind of fiction would cause their kids to go out, do drugs and have sex. This completely ignores the idea that students cannot separate fiction from reality; it does not give readers credit in handling literature. Literature will not always deal with easy to read subjects, just like health classes do not always deal with the easy to stomach

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