Introduction:
Feminist sociology is a way in which sociologists are able to look at the world in a way in which other sociological theories do not thoroughly explore. They do so by looking at the world from the female perspective. The novel Oryx and Crake (2009) can be critiqued using feminist sociology, focusing primarily on the socialist feminist theory. The effect that the capitalist society has on the opportunities of the female characters within this novel will be addressed, as well as the general correlation between how the men within this novel view women and how this only promotes their oppression.
Authors’ Main Points:
Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake (2009) is a piece of speculative fiction that is set in a post-apocalyptic …show more content…
Jimmy views the women he is intimate with as objects that he can utilize and discard as he pleases. He also has very little respect for any women that have been in his life. A prime example of this is Jimmy’s relationship with his mother. When Jimmy was younger, he would constantly toy with his mother’s emotions simply to provoke a reaction from her. “As he grew older and more devious, he found that on days that he couldn’t grab some approval, he could at least get a reaction. Anything was better than the flat voice, the blank eyes, the tired staring out of the window (Atwood, 2009:32). Instead of realizing that his mother is deeply depressed, when he doesn’t get the approval and praise he seeks from her, he takes this as rejection, and lashes out. In this sense, Jimmy treats his mother as a toy to play with and torment rather than a human being who needs love and support. I believe that the way that Jimmy is treating his mother when looked at from the point of view of a radical feminist, shows how patriarchal societies oppress women by treating them as an inferior rather than an equal (Smith, 2015:A). In a sense Jimmy is taking the power away from his mother, as the radical feminist perspective shows males within a patriarchal society doing, by attempting to provoke her into anger or an emotional breakdown. Another example that I found represents Jimmy’s blatant objectification of women is demonstrated in how Jimmy views women as only beneficial for their appearance. “Considering their slovenliness, their casual approach to personal hygiene and adornment, they ought to have fainted at the attention. Plaid shirts were their formal wear, hairstyles not their strong suit: a lot of them looked as if they had a close encounter with the kitchen shears”(Atwood, 2009:204). This demonstrates the patriarchal ideology that Jimmy has adopted and uses to categorize women who choose to
Feminist sociology is a way in which sociologists are able to look at the world in a way in which other sociological theories do not thoroughly explore. They do so by looking at the world from the female perspective. The novel Oryx and Crake (2009) can be critiqued using feminist sociology, focusing primarily on the socialist feminist theory. The effect that the capitalist society has on the opportunities of the female characters within this novel will be addressed, as well as the general correlation between how the men within this novel view women and how this only promotes their oppression.
Authors’ Main Points:
Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake (2009) is a piece of speculative fiction that is set in a post-apocalyptic …show more content…
Jimmy views the women he is intimate with as objects that he can utilize and discard as he pleases. He also has very little respect for any women that have been in his life. A prime example of this is Jimmy’s relationship with his mother. When Jimmy was younger, he would constantly toy with his mother’s emotions simply to provoke a reaction from her. “As he grew older and more devious, he found that on days that he couldn’t grab some approval, he could at least get a reaction. Anything was better than the flat voice, the blank eyes, the tired staring out of the window (Atwood, 2009:32). Instead of realizing that his mother is deeply depressed, when he doesn’t get the approval and praise he seeks from her, he takes this as rejection, and lashes out. In this sense, Jimmy treats his mother as a toy to play with and torment rather than a human being who needs love and support. I believe that the way that Jimmy is treating his mother when looked at from the point of view of a radical feminist, shows how patriarchal societies oppress women by treating them as an inferior rather than an equal (Smith, 2015:A). In a sense Jimmy is taking the power away from his mother, as the radical feminist perspective shows males within a patriarchal society doing, by attempting to provoke her into anger or an emotional breakdown. Another example that I found represents Jimmy’s blatant objectification of women is demonstrated in how Jimmy views women as only beneficial for their appearance. “Considering their slovenliness, their casual approach to personal hygiene and adornment, they ought to have fainted at the attention. Plaid shirts were their formal wear, hairstyles not their strong suit: a lot of them looked as if they had a close encounter with the kitchen shears”(Atwood, 2009:204). This demonstrates the patriarchal ideology that Jimmy has adopted and uses to categorize women who choose to