Interesting video! I love it when you share your thoughts on books! I’m not sure about the gender issues in 1984. What i remember is that the girl is quite in charge in the relationship, but not sure... good reason to re-read this book! 🥰
@SpinstersLibrary
4 жыл бұрын
She is certainly the one who initiates the relationship, yes
@preserumcoco
4 жыл бұрын
I have never thought of it like this before! 💕💕
@SpinstersLibrary
4 жыл бұрын
I find these kind of topics so interesting
@danecobain
4 жыл бұрын
Such a dope discussion :D
@SpinstersLibrary
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@rodoceros
4 жыл бұрын
You may find Ursula K. Le Guin's 1974 novel The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia interesting. Technically sci-fi. But don't let that discourage you from reading it.
@SpinstersLibrary
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you for the recommendation!
@annalisaely4298
4 жыл бұрын
One thing that bothered me about The Giver was that in the family unit the the main character is part of, the dad has work as a child carer, and the mom has work as a judge, and while I view that as a really good thing, smashing gender roles, I'm pretty sure it was included in this dystopian society to give us a sense of wrongness. I'm attempting to read both Swastika Night and Messenger this week, so hopefully I will get to see how gender roles are addressed further into the Giver series.
@SpinstersLibrary
4 жыл бұрын
Wow, I never thought about that! But you're right, the mum is presented as the stereotypical "career woman" and seems very emotionally distant from the family.
@kyootkitteh
4 жыл бұрын
One thing that bothered me in George Orwell’s writing is there seems to be this notion that women are morally weaker than men - are more susceptible to being brainwashed/bribed/simply follow the demands of a regime. The main character in 1984 basically says so in as many words, and though it is hard to tell whether these views are of just the character or also the author, it seems to be confirmed as well by the female horse character in Animal Farm (seemingly the only female-coded character in the book from what I remember?) who is the first to abandon the revolution due to her superficial desires.
@SpinstersLibrary
4 жыл бұрын
Interesting, I've not read Animal Farm so can't compare!
@thoroughlyenjoyedbooks8565
4 жыл бұрын
Not having qualifications in literature doesn’t make your thoughts and opinions invalid! I really enjoyed this video. I think of the main reasons women are reduced to sex in dystopian novels is due to the control elements. (Cis) Women are the ones needed to carry the future children, so in a dystopian world, that will be their only purpose and all other powers would be removed from them. I do often wonder how much of it is sexism and how much of it is ‘worst case scenario’ idealism. Have you read Women on the Edge of Time? Dystopian novel written by about a woman, that looks at other ways of procuring children. Very interesting read I studied in my undergrad!
@SpinstersLibrary
4 жыл бұрын
I have not read it yet, although I have got Piercy's later novel "He, She, and It" on my TBR and hope to get to it later this week! Also, about my disclaimer: As an academic in a different discipline (musicology) I'm always aware of the differences of speaking as an expert as opposed to a layperson. Not having those qualifications in literature doesn't make my opinions invalid, but it makes it clear that they are simply my opinions and not backed up by research :) I appreciate your encouragement though.
@thoroughlyenjoyedbooks8565
4 жыл бұрын
Spinster's Library well regardless, I enjoyed your discussion! 😊
@alien777
2 ай бұрын
I highly disagree. Women need to work and fight in such a world. Women can Band together and be safer, best snipers are women. It is just lack of fantasy or knowledge of what women did in the past, what was everything. Cut of Excess to recourses is the only thing that could enslave women.
@drawyourbook876
4 жыл бұрын
I think that dystopians don't necessarily say that all aspects of the new society are wrong. For example in brave new world, the society is initially presented as a utopia. Have you thought about Farenheit 451? If you have not read it, stop reading here, there might be spoilers!!! That seems a very heteronormative society, but at the end, the resistance seems a much more equal society in terms of gender.
@SpinstersLibrary
4 жыл бұрын
True, many dystopian worlds are presented as utopian, but in the course of the novel, the lies are usually uncovered and the society is shown to be undesirable. That's how I see Brave New World too, everyone is happy and on drugs, and men and women (within the same class) are equal, but throughout the novel the reader gets to understand that that's not actually a desirable goal.
@tillysshelf
4 жыл бұрын
Very interesting discussion. I'd like to disagree with you though on the idea that gender equality was presented as a bad thing. In Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty Four what you have is two societies that are presenting themselves as utopias, even though in practice they are clearly dystopian. I think that stating that there is gender equality is a fake news tool to signal that the society is supposedly good, but (from memory) there actually aren't many women in powerful positions and where women appear at least in Nineteen Eighty Four they are either in the home environment or presented (as you say) as linked to sex. So in a way I think the suggestion is to distrust the notion of equality that is being presented, because it is not a healthy or a functional form of equality, it's a window dressing for the totalitarian state.
@SpinstersLibrary
4 жыл бұрын
That is a good point, especially with regards to 1984 I can see how women's equality is presented as part of the package of lies the government tries to sell to its people. There is enough chocolate and there is no discrimination.
@tillysshelf
4 жыл бұрын
@@SpinstersLibrary That would be a more succinct way of putting it yes!
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