In a society that holds itself to a high standard, it is difficult to fathom that it could become a dystopian world, like those centered in futuristic science fiction. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World presents a society that functions— from the perspective of the average modern individual— in an unimaginable manner. However, modern society is already veering towards its own Brave New World. When the growing gap between socio-economic classes and the increasing sexualisation in society are analyzed, a dystopian future becomes clearer. The class structure in Brave New World is unlike anything that currently exists in modern society. This system places the citizens of this world in a caste from birth, "'We decant our babies as socialized …show more content…
The hypnopaedic phrase "every one belongs to every one else" (40), gives people the liberty to be with whomever they wish. This intense sexual nature is begins at a young age, with "erotic play" (32) encouraged between children. With such a degree of sexual freedom, monogamy is frowned upon in this society; "It's such horribly bad form to go on and on like this with one man" (41). In fact, group sex is mandatory in the Brave New World, as part of their solidarity services, "Orgy-porgy, Ford and fun/Kiss the girls and make them One/ Boys at one with girls at peace/ Orgy-porgy gives release" (84). With all of this, it is normal to dehumanize others for sexual pleasure "'Lenina Crowne?...I'm surprised you haven't had her'... 'I certainly will. At the first opportunity'...'Talking about her as though she were a bit of meat...Degrading her to so much mutton'" (44-46). The only true differences between modern society and Brave New World, is that in this society, "there were also [is still] monogamy and romance" (40) and "erotic play between children had been [is] regarded as...not only abnormal, actually immoral...and had been [is] therefore been rigorously suppressed. However, , society is becoming desensitized to sex, with growing sexual promiscuity in the younger population. While having a greater number of partners is more common, sexual intimacy, building a strong connection with someone, is not (Jacobsen). . Although, the greatest evidence of a societal movement towards Brave New World is the sexualisation and sexual objectification of (young) girls. Examples of this include: clothing stores sell thongs sized for pre-teen girls, children in beauty pageants encouraged to "flirt" on stage, fashion shows in which models made to resemble little girls wear sexy lingerie, and provocatively dressed women in music videos (American Psychological Association).. On television, sexual
Roumel Ibanez P:4 ERWC Brave New World Essay The purpose of my paper is to explain how men and women are not equal in Brave New World. From the very start of the book, huxley had made men superior to women.
The idea of a Utopian society is one that many are familiar with. A utopian society is defined as a seemingly perfect society actually plagued by mass corruption. While the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley may seem extreme, the ideas of the corrupted society expressed are not incredibly far off from today’s society. Quite frankly, today’s society is more like the New World society than what one may prefer.
Aldous Huxley's Brave NewWorld is a dystopian fiction novel that was first published in 1932 and is set in London in the year 2540. It tells the story of a seemingly perfect, mechanized and highly stratified world, where the citizens base their lives around the pursuit of pleasure and avoid pain at all costs. Through the eyes of the protagonist, Bernard Marx, the reader is presented with a critique of the potential dangers of embracing scientific progress and social stability over individualism. The novel focuses on the underlying themes of social control, censorship, and oppression.
An example of how this relates to Brave New World, is when Lenina is in the elevator going up to the root for her date, she looks around the small area and realizes that everyman in there with her she has had sex with! Today we would consider that a disgrace, and a fancy word for that is “whore” (Chapter 4, part 1, page # 57). In the Brave New World though having sexual intercourse with so many men would be an honor, a privilege, and a positive achievement.
Hall in an article, Literary and Cultural Theory, “...methodologies emphasize issues gender, sexuality, and/or race,” (Hall 73). Hall describes that Marxism is the idea where “...society is stratified into three primary classes.- the Aristocracy, the Bourgeoisie, and the Proletariat…”(Hall 74). Each of these three social classes has a different view of everything and a different set of interests. In the novel, Brave New World, Huxley splits the society into five different groups, the Alphas, Betas, Deltas, Gammas and the Epsilon’s, but are put into three categories. For example, The Aristocracy are the Alphas, the middle class or the Bourgeoisie are Betas, Deltas, Gammas and the poor workers or the are the Proletarians are mainly Epsilons.
Huxley’s wording presents the standard of women in this dystopian world setting. Further shows that most women were there to pleasure. In Brave New World, Huxley’s captivating syntax and imagery forges unforgettable
From eight to ninety-six buds, and every bud will grow into a perfectly formed embryo, and every embryo into a full-sized adult. Making ninety-six human beings grow where only one grew before.” (Director 7). Another attempt to make a stable society is implementing a caste system where “everyone belongs to everyone”. The caste system in Brave New World worked so effectively that the different castes rarely interacted with each other, and when they did there was a palpable animosity towards the persons of another caste.
This “Utopian” society seems to still struggle with gender equality. Huxley demonstrates several instances throughout the novel in which women are portrayed as sexual objects, and even deemed as the bad ones. Brave New World begins with a class of students who are being toured around by the director of the facility. Much like that classroom and most top positions it appears that women are not as valued as men.
In the novel Brave New World, author Aldous Huxley links sexual promiscuity and happiness by utilizing diction and imagery, proving that the only link sexual promiscuity has towards happiness is that it promotes a false sense of happiness. In the “New World Society”, where the main characters Lenina and Bernard Marx are from, everything is controlled and created to fit the social ecosystem of their “perfect” society. Even the people are created, from vials. Not born or produced.
Sex creates an extremely exclusive bond between two individuals; it’s an unspoken contract of trust and love. Not only are sexual experiences private, but they also fulfill humanity’s instinctual desire and promote individuality. However, when this intimacy is either erased or condemned by society, individuals lose touch with that vital part of their humanity and individuality. In 1984 by George Orwell, sexuality plays an important role in both Oceania’s totalitarian government and Winston’s rebellion against his oppressors; as he explores his sexuality, Winston revolts against the Party’s manipulative political control, the destruction of individuality, the absence of human connection, and the practice of sexual puritanism.
Each person has purpose and is set in a role into society. Brave New World also has a set way of birth and that during the process Aldous Huxley uses the technique of hypnopaedia. Some examples of this are “A gramme is always better than a damn,” “Everyone works for everyone else,” “Everybody’s happy nowadays” and “Progress is lovely.”
Equality among people justifies the development of human civilization. The history witnesses how people mistreated the others and how other people fought for freedom. It proves a permanent truth that the more civilized the people are, the less inequality would be promoted. However, there was no one period in the past, even now, without inequality completely. The slavery issue in the West and the gender inequality in the East both brought unimaginable damage for not only the groups of people who were mistreated, but also the society which is supposed to be peaceful, fair and justice.
Gender Inequality: A Woman’s Struggle in “The Yellow Wallpaper” In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman captures the lives of women in a society based on societal expectations during the late nineteenth century. She focuses on the issue of gender inequality where women were often discriminated against and expected to fulfill the role of a perfect wife and mother. The narrator is based on on Gilman’s personal experience of suffering from her treatment for postpartum depression due to the social restrictions on women which represents a reflection on women's social status in society. The narrator, who remains anonymous, is depicted as a depressed and isolated prisoner who is oppressed under her husband’s control and struggles to break free.
The fact also arises that women not only suffer from lack of recognition for the work they do in households but also for their work in their jobs. Women work as much as men, if not more. When both paid and unpaid work such as household chores and caring for children are taken into consideration, women work longer hours than men—an average of 30 minutes a day longer in developed countries and 50 minutes in developing countries. This is known as second shift, where women not only work at their jobs but also come back home and complete their household chores. However their contribution remains minimum due to unequal wage pay and lack of consideration given to household chores.
Gender Inequality Gender inequality is a characteristic of social structure according to which different social groups (in this case men and women) have certain differences resulting in unequal opportunities. Gender inequality is associated with social construction of masculinity and femininity as oppositional categories with unequal social value (Ferree, 1999). One of the main problems in gender theory is the problem of dominance. Together with race and class gender is a hierarchical structure that could to provide both opportunities and oppression (Ferree, 1999). Gender inequality can exist in different forms, depending on culture, region, religion and other factors.