“O brave new world! » John happily proclaims after learning that he would have the chance to live in the World State with Bernard and Lenina (Huxley 93). Upon first reading dystopian literature, one might feel a little like John, assuming a more progressive society, full of equality and promoting individuality. However, examining these texts in more depth, with feminist theory in mind, will reveal the many inequalities that the World State has to offer. As the reader can clearly agree, the theme of the suppression of women appears in the characters of the dystopian novels Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell. Both Huxley and Orwell expose themes of oppression through inferior work roles for women, demeaning language used to describe women, and the depiction of women as sexual objects. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The women in early dystopian novels are oppressed by their society, especially in the job market. In Cheryl Lange's analysis of female characters played by male and female writers, it is noted that women, in the novels of their male writers, tend to depict a less important and more "servile life in which she is defined only in relation to men. (Lange). Women are not only seen as secondary characters, but they are also given a lesser level of authority in these novels. The best example of the insignificant roles assigned to women can be best seen in the dystopian novels Brave New World and 1984. In the novel Brave New World, women never get higher jobs. In fact, in the first chapter the reader encounters a group of Alpha students visiting the incubation and conditioning center in central London (Huxley 5). However, all of these students are men. The highest class in Brave New World is reserved only for men, making it clear that women are not as valuable or as intelligent as men. Children are conditioned from a young age to know that Alphas "work much harder than they do, because they are terribly intelligent" (Huxley 21). Clearly, Alphas are subject to favoritism in society, instilling the idea that once again, men are superior and more capable than women. Additionally, in both 1984 and Brave New World, a man occupies the position of greatest authority. In Brave New World, this supreme figure is the world control and director of hatcheries and conditioning. Similarly, in 1984, Big Brother is the all-knowing male force that controls society. Not only do men control society, but they also control the choices women make in society. In the Brave New World, women do not have the right to choose whether or not to be sterilized. The men of society alone dictate this choice to women. Overall, women are reduced to miniscule work roles in both dystopian societies. Besides the inferior place of women in society in 1984 and Brave New World, the demeaning language the authors use to describe women obviously represents the underlying sexism in dystopian novels. Nina Baym, professor of English at the University of Illinois, states that "[...] texts written by men cannot help but depict women in abhorrent ways, and that 'women' in texts masculine are therefore alwaystextual victims” (Baym). Professor Baym's remarks capitalize on the issue of the suppression of women in literature. Women often play satellite characters and are poorly represented by their misogynistic authors. For example, in 1984, Julia is described as a “rebel to the waist” for using sex to get revenge on the government (Orwell 196). A feminist critic would say that it is obvious that the author is implying that only men are capable of rebelling because they are intelligent enough to do so. By describing Julia as an unintelligent character, Orwell succeeds in asserting his patriarchal mindset to the reader. In Orwell's eyes, the only thing women can contribute to society is sex. Orwell makes a deliberate statement that he finds women in society stupid, stating through his main character, Winston, "It is always women, and especially the young, who have been the most fanatical adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the of amateur spies and snoops outside of orthodoxy” (Orwell 13). Orwell instills in the reader's mind that women are the reason why society has become so stupid. It is the lack of intelligence of women that is responsible for the dictatorship of Big Brother. Likewise, in Brave New World, the only people capable of successfully rebelling are once again the men of society. We can also see the prejudice against women in Brave New World when the theme of the “mother” is mentioned (Huxley 18). For example, Lenina compares Bernard's strange behavior to when she used the word "mother" as an insult, saying that he seemed like he had "made a dirty joke - asked her who her mother was, or something like that” (Huxley 39). ). Mother in the global state society is considered a vulgar word that should never be repeated. On the other hand, when a character mentions father, it is considered a dirty word and more acceptable. Women are also described as “pneumatic,” that is, full of air (Huxley 32). Men in the book are never mentioned in this way and are seen as the capable beings of society. After all, it's the men who hold all the power in the book. The lack of authority that women are able to exercise in both societies belies the idea that women have no positive contribution to society. Not only are women degraded by the words used to describe them in 1984 and Brave New World, but they are also stereotyped based on their appearance. . Although sex is frowned upon among the citizens of Oceania, sex is strongly encouraged in the World State. However, women are judged on their youthful appearance and beauty. Appearance is of utmost importance: when the citizens of the World State see Linda, an outsider who has lived on the reservation for years, she is classified as "disgusting" because she had wrinkles and had no hair. not looking young. In fact, the sight of Linda provokes “a murmur of horror; a young girl screamed; standing on a chair to get a better view,” as if she were an animal because she lacked the typical beauty that society was accustomed to (Huxley 101). Even though gender was frowned upon in 1984, Winston continued to objectify women based on their appearance. When describing the women of a particular region, Winston states, “The woman there had no spirit, she had only strong arms, a warm heart, and a fertile womb” (Orwell 174). Therefore, Winston promotes the patriarchal ideology that women are only objects and have no intelligence. The only use of women is for children and/39/)