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Gender Inequality In Brave New World

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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

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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

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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