Martian Chronicles Sexism

One of societies biggest faults is unrealistic body images for both men and women. This issue has resulted greatly out of the image of the ‘nuclear family’ or ideal family. It gives people the impression that if they do not look a certain way, then they are virtually useless. This mindset part of the cause of 1940’s-50’s sexism and gender norms. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury is excellent as acting as a cultural mirror, and Bradbury did a wonderful job at discussing issues such as race and gender. There are a couple stories in The Martian Chronicles that concern gender and one of those is “The Silent Towns”. This short story follows along the saying ‘I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last person on Earth!’. It follows the narrative of a

When the other person hangs up he immediately says “She won’t phone back” (Bradbury 197), automatically assuming the caller’s gender. He realizes that he has done this, and reminds himself that it could be a male calling, nonetheless, on the next page he says “It must be a woman. Why? Only a woman would call and call. A man wouldn’t. A man’s independent…It must be a woman” (Bradbury 198) which totally replaces the previous phrase with this sexist and misogynistic one. The next sexist encounter in this story is when Walter Gripp actually gets ahold of the caller, who coincidentally is a female named Genevieve Selsor. Make note that her name is a very feminine one that in many languages means ‘Of the race of women’. When the phone connection breaks off and he heads out to find her and falls asleep, Walter begins to fantasize about her, describing her with “Long dark hair shaking in the wind; beautiful, it was. And her lips like red peppermints. And her cheeks like fresh-cut wet roses. And her body like a clear vaporous mist” (Bradbury 201). This fantasy is an example of unrealistic expectations for