Why Is Curley's Wife Unequal To Men

In the 1960s, Julie Christie, a British actress once said, “I remember becoming aware of women 's issues and inequality. It became glaringly clear to me when I was living in America that women are regarded as less intelligent than men”. In the 1930s, this idea was expressed to an even greater extent by the American author, John Steinbeck in the novella, Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck epitomizes this idea of women being unequal to men through the example of Curley’s wife, the only woman living on an all-male ranch. She is discriminated against in many ways while she attempts to gain power over others. Steinbeck depicts Curley’s wife as an inhuman attention seeker who is constantly pursuing power over weaker individuals. In addition, Steinbeck shows

While Whit and George are playing cards in the bunk house, Whit asks, ““Seen the new kid yet?” he asked. “What kid?” George asked. “Why, Curley’s new wife”” (Steinbeck 51). Everyone in the novella refers to Curley’s wife as simply “Curley’s wife”. She is always addressed by her husband’s name as if she were part of him. This represents how Steinbeck believes women to be property of their husband, not their own person. Also, calling someone by name is a sign of respect, and the men on the ranch don’t even respect or care enough about Curley’s wife to take the time to learn her name. Curley’s wife is a nobody. By contrast, Whit, a character with such a minimal role in the novella that he only appears in a single chapter, is given a name. By leaving Curley’s wife nameless, Steinbeck demonstrates the idea that women are inferior to men. In the barn, when Curley’s wife confesses her true feelings to Lennie, she tells him, ““I get lonely. You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?”” (Steinbeck 87). When Curley’s wife makes this comment, it sounds as if she thinks that Curley is not good enough for her and that she deserves better. She does not respect Curley, because Curley does not allow her to make her own

In today’s world, America has tried to compensate for past inequalities so that both genders can have equal opportunities in life. However, it is still not perfect. Meghan Casserly, a member of the Forbes Entrepreneurs team, analyzed the 2012 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau to discover that, “this year a total of 16 states boast women earning 80 cents or more to every male dollar, twice the count of 2010”. This shows how women are close to earning equivalent salaries to their male counterparts, but the gap is not quite closed yet. It is excellent that people are now paying attention to gender inequality and trying to do something about it. Since Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, it seems like the majority of the problem has been fixed. Catherine Hill, Ph.D., the vice president for research at the American Association of University Women wrote how the pay gap in the United States “affects women of all ages, races, and education levels”. Even if a woman has a Doctoral degree, lives in Washington D.C., and is Caucasian, the pay gap still exists. A man with that same backround would still be making more money yearly. However smaller the gender pay gap is becoming, it is obvious that it still exists, and it proves that discrimination also exists in America