The Oppression Of Women In Huxley's Brave New World

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The statistics are indisputable. Women make approximately 74 cents to every man’s $1 in the same job level, with the same level of schooling. There are more male C.E.O.s of Standard & Poor’s 1500 companies named John OR David, than there are women. The same applies for professors at Chicago, Harvard, M.I.T, Princeton, Stanford and Yale (Wolfers). Although more women and minorities are getting higher levels of education, there is a prevalent Glass Ceiling metaphorically weighing down on minorities and preventing a level financial playing field. The oppression of women can be blamed on the portrayal of them in the media, which have had detrimental effects on equal representation in big businesses, and how this relates to Huxley’s Brave New World. …show more content…

All men and women are decanted equally and for the same purpose, and they get equally rewarded for the same work. In this utopia where problems are solved such as disease, terrorism, war, dissatisfaction with life, and monogamy, the glass ceiling is another; it has officially been broken. There is also the same representation of genders in the media. For example, when Lenina and John are at the Feelies, they both enjoy the sexual feelings that are brought on by both characters. The porn industry today displays their content vastly for the majority of viewers, which are male. John and Lenina were both given the right to enjoy the sexual content in front of them, because one gender was not being exploited. If the Feelies were strictly for a male audience, this could decrease a woman’s self esteem or sex drive to a point that no amount of soma in the world could fix. On the flip side, since men are so satisfied and happy with the testosterone boost that comes from living in a patriarchal society, this could lead to an increased ego in the work place, and misogynistic thinking towards their female co-workers. Sound familiar? The equality among minorities and women are only a miniscule piece of the large functioning machine that is the New World. Their world is immoral and questionable in many ways, but their principles for equal representation and rights among genders and races of all kind is something that the U.S. could take some notes from in an effort to break through the omnipresent Glass

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