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Patriarchy In Brave New World

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In the 1890’s the term ‘feminism’ was coined, about 50 years after the women's rights movement started. The fight for the equality of the sexes has been going on for over one hundred years. People who are feminists seek to fight for equality between men and women. This includes equality in education, employment, and salary. Aldous Huxley wrote the novel Brave New World in 1931, in a time where women were still fighting for equality. Just 11 years prior, women were given the right to vote in the U.S. When you analyze Brave New World through a feminist stance, it exposes the inequality in an “equal” society. In the novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley explores the inequality of the sexes by showing the patriarchy throughout the society. He …show more content…

In this, futuristic, dystopian world men and women seem to be treated the same. However, if you take a closer look, there are differences. Throughout the whole society, the men held the places of power. Mustapha Mond is one of the world leaders; he is portrayed as an intellectual and powerful man. The D.H.C., the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning, is also an important man and has a very important position in this society as well. The person they worship like God is called ‘Ford’ after Henry Ford. All around you notice the men are in the highest places of power. There also seem to be only Alpha males throughout the novel. Although there is the possibility there could be Alpha females, Aldous Huxley chooses not to characterize them as Alphas. This makes the readers wonder if women are really viewed equally in this society. The thing that makes them unique was taken away from them, the gift of bringing life into the world. Now no one can reproduce because women are forced to take contraceptives. In Brave New World, Huxley offers a remarkably sexist vision, which makes the reader wonder what is the true vision of gender is. (Leon, 3) The beginning of this novel is significant because it starts off with the students touring the factory where humans are created, and they all just happens to be male. This shows the restrictions women had on what they could do from such an early age. Milton Birnbaum notes that women in Huxley’s world “are seen chiefly in relationship to the males” and only “occupy a satellite position.” (Leon, 3) Women seem to benefit the men and revolve around them. The two main women in this novel, Lenina and Linda, are portrayed as reliant on men. At certain points in the model they attempt to break free from the gender roles of the society around them but ultimately fail. There are debates on whether or not Huxley was trying to make a statement about the issue of the

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