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An essay about the book george orwell in 1984
Analysis of 1984 by George Orwell
Analysis of 1984 by George Orwell
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“On average, 83% of men and 59% of women enjoy their sex life” (Langer). Under the rule of the Party in the novel 1984, sex was considered dirty and that it should not be enjoyed. They went to great lengths to soil the idea of sexual acts. One, for example, is the Junior Anti-Sex League. The author, George Orwell, portrays sex as being just like anything else they do in life: a service to the Party. The idea of sex in this novel was not to be for enjoyment or pleasure, but only to breed children for their government. The Party, in a sense, hated sex, but they still needed people to rule, so they tried to “…kill the sex instinct, or, if it could not be killed, then to distort it or dirty it” (Orwell 66). They made pornographic films, which,
At the beginning of the 1900s, there was a “sexual revolution” in New York City. During this time, sexual acts and desires were not hidden, but instead they were openl...
Orwell mentions a lot of things that are related to sex, along with describing very explicit detail on how Winston feels about Julia sexually, “Her body was white and smooth, but it aroused no desire in him, indeed he barely looked at it. “ (Orwell pg. 39) However sex should not be a taboo topic that high school students should not read about because obviously it is human nature to reproduce and students at high school age should be consider old enough to understand what it is. If a parent has any
In 1984, Winston felt like sex was a rebellion. He is drawn to his lover Julia because she is corrupt and she enjoys sex, although she hides it by being a member of the "anti sex rally". In Brave New World, sex isn't looked upon as a crime, nor is pleasure. In fact, sex is promoted. As long as everyone uses regulation birth control and no one gives birth to a child naturally, then sex is considered perfectly normal.
1984 is a novel written by George Orwell, the main theme of the novel is about how totalitarian society can control every aspect of a person thought, sexuality and action. Totalitarianism can be define as a repressive one-party that has total control over people thoughts and actions. In 1984, people are being control totally by the Party through device such as the telescreen. People are stripped away from their freedom to do things that they want. The Party wants people to only focus on improving the Party and set everything else aside. Love is nonexistent in this government and the Party’s policy strictly forbids sex. The Party restrains people from falling in love with one another. Consequently, people cannot display their love for each other out in public. Furthermore, sex for pleasure can be considered a crime in 1984’s totalitarian government unless it is “celibacy”. Goodsex is any kind of sex that is allowable by the Party with the intention to reproduce. Goodsex will increase the total population. The more people the Party has the stronger the Party will be. Repression helps the party and hurts the people who have to tolerate the Party’s policy. The Party’s repression of sexuality helps them eliminate people who are trying to corrupt the Party, ensuring the Party that they have control over what people can and cannot do. By repressing people thoughts and actions the Party is psychologically manipulating people and physically restraining them.
To start off, Orwell's sole inclusion of women who base their relationships with men exclusively on sex demonstrates Orwell's negative beliefs about women. Despite Julia's claims to love Winston, their relationship is not about “the love of one person, but the animal instinct”(132). Julia has been in similar relationships to her and Winston's “hundreds of times”(131), relationships that look only at the sexual side and never at the emotional. She refuses all of Winston's attempts to expand their relationship, having “a disconcerting habit of falling asleep”(163) whenever he persists in talking. And although Winston cares for Julia more than he cares for Katharine, Katharine also bases her relationship with Winston completely on sex. When Winston reflects on their time together, he thinks, “he could have borne living with her if it had been agreed that they remain celibate... It ...
Although Foucault’s idea that there was an upsurge of discourse about sex from the 18th century on may be correct, that does not necessarily negate the concept that there wasn’t still repression of sex. People can still talk and write about sex, but simply having dialogue is not be enough – what is more important is to have productive dialogue that challenges and advances ideas about sexuality. If discourse maintains the status quo of sex, it is not groundbreaking. Foucault uses the medicalization of sex to support his argument that there was increased discourse about sex. However, Alfred Kinsey’s work in the 1950s may show Foucault’s error in thinking that acknowledging a subject necessarily means improving conversations around it. For instance,
Sex. Let us talk about it. After all it is part of human nature, animals do it, people do it, yet as a woman one is expected to keep their sexual desires to themselves. Why? It is acceptable, if not expected, of a man to voice his sexual conquests but a woman is deemed promiscuous and unruly if she makes her desires visible. The Victorian ideals of purity and innocence have long been ingrained in society, even to the point of tainting the media in favor of chastity and modesty. Female representation in film has long battled against stereotyped visions of sex kittens and housewives who lack narrative arches, and ultimately bear the meaning of a male story rather than make one themselves. Throughout film history, one can notice spikes of female empowerment and, in particular female sexual desire, but overall the acceptance of sexual behavior has been placed primarily on the male character. Interestingly, research shows that during the 1960s a sexual revolution gave way to the notion that young women were more willing than young men to have sex before marriage, yet the media did not follow suit. These young women of the mid-20th century with sexual
Before Alfred Kinsey’s research, the social norms on sex were much different than they are today. In the 1940’s and 50’s sex was a topic that was too taboo to talk about. Supposedly, no one engaged in pre-marital sex, oral intercourse, anal intercourse, or any type of homosexual relations. Almost anything sexually related was seen as wrong. Intercourse was only to be used to reproduce. Even then, ‘the stork’ brought the babies or they were grown in ‘cabbage patches’. This thought may have started with Queen Victoria, when asked about her thoughts on pregnancy after having 9 children of her own, stated the she hated the idea of pregnancy. Women were also supposed to stay true to the Cult of True Womenhood and be pure for their husband. Homophobia
In Foucault’s History of Sexuality, it elaborates on the history of the repression of sex and the way we look at it. Foucault thinks that people started to think bad of sex during the 17th century when the “bourgeois society” or the middleclass came into power. Then during the Victorian Age sex become a huge secret to everyone, it was meant to be kept in the bedroom between a man and a woman. The only purpose for sex was to reproduce, other than that it was suppose to be nonexistence. During this period many people wanted to keep it under control: “imposed silence, Censorship.” Foucault goes on to explain how people were so prude that people were afraid to actually say the word sex. Another big topic in this article was children sexuality,
Married Love was an unprecedented book, which inadvertently redefined female sexuality. Often regarded as the precursor of sex-manuals, Married Love launched Stopes’ enormously successful career as a writer. Published in 1918, Married Love reviewed the intertwining relationship of marriage, sex and contraception, which in Stopes’ view were the fundamental components of a fulfilling and rewarding marriage. Like all discourse, Married Love is heavily embedded within a distinct historical and cultural context. Darwinian theory and the development of eugenics had a phenomenal impact on Stopes. Recognising the equal sexual desire of women would make Married Love greatly influential in the shaping of modern perceptions into female sexuality. Examining the social ethos of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Married Love was a pioneering book for its time. The significant transformation of gender roles during the interwar years in combination with the progressing field of sexology, Stopes’ work would be another stepping stone to the democratisation of sexuality.
The New World is a society built completely off the basis of happiness and cohesion. Every person works well within their societal groups, and the standards are set and are not meant to be misjudged or overstepped. Therefore, the societal standpoint on intimate and sexual relations throughout Brave New World are presented in an extremely casual way. Intimate, one to one, relationship are not allowed, people cannot overstep this boundary, and the society works with cohesion. Any person can have sex with anyone, whenever and wherever they want to. The idea of being sexualized is completely casual.
One major issue that helps maintain social stability in Brave New World is sex. It is thought of as normal for people to be completely open with their sexual nature. It is typical for children to run around naked during recess playing games that are sexual and sometimes homosexual in nature. Every adult is encouraged to sleep with as many different partners as possible. This outlook on sexual nature is quite different from actual accepted views. Today, sex is most widely accepted as a private, romantic event that should take place between monogamous couples. Because sex is a natural need of the human body, people of Huxley’s society feel pleased by being open with their sexuality. Indulging in their sexual pleasures eases their minds and keeps them from questioning the level of freedom they have.
The women's movement was in full swing in America in the sixties. These were the women who were escaping from their kitchens, burning their bras, and working in careers that were traditionally male-oriented, while at the same time demanding payment equal to men's salaries. In her essay: What Would It Be Like if Women Win, Gloria Steinem has many thoughts on the ways feminism could change this country and what the society would be like if her changes were made. An interesting change she is looking to make involves sexual hypocrisy: "No more sex arranged on the barter system, with women pretending interest, and men never sure whether they are loved for themselves or for the security few women can get any other way" (Steinem, Takin' it to the Streets, 476). This new attitude can be found in much of the literature of the sixties. Specifically, in two of the books we have read, women authors have projected this concept of a "new sexual women" into their characters.
We see this through the idea of “orgy-porgy”, the act of group sex under drugs for ceremonial purposes. This “idea” has turned normal relationships into mindless sex as it was shown in the Solidarity Service. The book tells us how the,” Orgy-porgy, Ford and fun, Kiss the girls and make them One. Boys at one with girls at peace; Orgy-porgy gives release (Huxley 84)”. The Orgy Porgy ceremony is a way to use sex to channel lust and physical attraction instead of love towards one another. However in contemporary American society, recreational sex isn’t advisable due to the increased chances of STI’s, unexpected pregnancy and even psychological effects to the mind and body. For their part, people in Brave New World have taken special steps since birth to protect themselves from these issues through conditioning. As we haven’t been conditioned, we have no such protection from these issues, which makes recreational sex
Today, a political dispute is not uncommon, and that is due to the fact that politics is the driving force of the world. Almost every aspect of our lives is associated with the politics that govern the decisions we make. Unfortunately, the politics that are in our everyday lives are filled with a majority of deceitful people and ideas. George Orwell states, “In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.” George Orwell is clearly stating that people cannot escape the chaos that is produced around us through politics. This world is built off of the betrayal and lies in this mass jungle of politics, and there is