Sex and Gender in 1984

In his novel 1984, George Orwell presents a dystopian society in which sex and sexuality are fundamentally repressed by the government of Oceania. According to the Repressive Hypothesis, discourse and debate surrounding sexuality in 1984 should be restricted and concealed. This viewpoint is flawed, however, because sex permeates the culture in Oceania. Though the word “sex” is only whispered, evidence of its continued utilization appears everywhere. Sex lingers in the culture through the vocabulary and speech of everyday life, through Winston Smith’s descriptions of his sexual conquests, through Julia and her ostensible sexuality, and through the need for sexual confession within the novel.

Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. 31-34. Howe, Tom. "George Orwell."

This continued push on sexual promiscuity, especially on women, is in stark contrast to our own soci... ... middle of paper ... ...production, and Shakespearian writing and Biblical/religious texts, he successfully creates meaning and pushes his agenda of the fact that total government control is devastating, and the inner human drive to be an individual can never be suppressed, which attacks the rising Socialist and Fascist societies of the time. This makes the novel Brave New World more than just a great novel to read. It makes it a socio-political masterpiece that makes people value their own human rights. Works Cited Shmoop Editorial Team. "Brave New World Theme of Sex" Shmoop.com.

Female gossip was a tool used to keep women in line with the social standards. How then did the Greeks deal with the dichotomy of the ideal (the woman stays indoors) and the reality (her business forces her out)? Cohen says it’s a very fine line, realizing... ... middle of paper ... ...p the Athenian’s idea of the feminine as chaotic and the masculine as rational. Gossip is very much an intangible, changeable thing, whereas the law code for adultery states that a man must see his wife having the adulterous affair before he can take action – a more rational mode of conduct. I would have liked to see Cohen go into more detail on how a man will sleep with another man’s wife to raise his own stature.

With the prudish Puritan ideals of Shaw’s society controlling the degree of sexuality that could be depicted in Man and Superman without being condemned to a life without production, Shaw had to carefully select how and when he would have his characters demonstrate their sexuality. The climax scene of Act IV is the culmination of Ann Whitefield’s manipulation of Jack Tanner’s intellect and emotions as well as her seduction of his sexuality: TANNER. [seizing her in his arms] It is false: I love you. The Life Force enchants me: I have the whole world in my arms when I clasp you. But I am fighting for my freedom, for my honor, for myself, one and indivisible.

In this way, Foucault correctly claims that disciplinary power fashions individuals who voluntarily subject themselves to self-surveillance. When people fear that their sexual behaviors might be what the true discourse considers to be abnormal, they regulate their own bodies in order to conform. Therefore, the power of true discourses is omnipresent as it shapes human existence and permeates even the most private aspect of individual lives and ultimately impacts society as a whole.

Even if sexuality is socially constructed, it’s still very material, it is out there as much as anything - words are actions too. Gayle Rubin’s Thinking Sex considers the political history of sex regulation, its current form, and a bit of theory about sexuality and its discourses. At the very apex of the flow of the article towards freedom in sexual practice, she draws the line at consent, straining out bad sex from good sex on the line in the sand of what is agreed to and what is not. Rubin’s piece fails to take seriously the History of Sexuality that she relies on for her rejection of political regulations about sexuality, and thus ends up advocating the consent limitation that recapitulates all the problems and fancies she finds in sexual legislation. Rubin bemoans the oppressive laws that tell people what sexual practices are to be accepted and unaccepted, as if laws were to be obeyed - a presumption that already constitutes a particular type of subject in relation to a kind of power (the power of/in Law).

Web. 12 Mar 2014. . . N.p.. Web.

Love and loyalty are commonly associated with humanity and freedom, which is why they are often featured within the Dystopian genre in which dictatorships try to change what it means to be human. Love and loyalty are common themes running throughout George Orwell’s 1984, written in 1949 and Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, written in 2008. The totalitarian government in 1984, The Party, regards love and sex as, “a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act,” it is an act that aims to change the social order of the Party, which may eliminate Big Brother‘s influence. Therefore, during the torture of the rebel protagonist Winston, The Party forces him to betray his lover, Julia to eradicate feelings of love for anyone that is not Big Brother.

In relation to rape, feminist criminologists argue that sexual assault is a result of a history of male control and female passivity, making it more acceptable for men to control women sexually (Ward, 1995). The idea of rape culture stems from this feminist criminology perspective about male domination (Chasteen, 2001). It is how society thinks about sexual assault, and has the effect of normalizing or denying sexual assault when it occurs, or placing blame on the victim, rather than the offender, for the crime (Duca, 2015). Attitudes, norms, beliefs, and historical inequality are all part of rape culture (Ward, 1995), including everyday practices that may seem harmless. Fairytales are an example of how some attitudes towards women are reinforced.