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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page essay that discusses how Egalia's Daughters, A Satire of the Sexes, by Norwegian writer Gerd Brantenberg creates a biting satirical look at the patriarchal structure that held sway in Western society until the advent of women's rights. Brantenberg pictures a world, Egalia, in which the gender roles are reversed and the society is completely matriarchal. By putting the rationalizations for patriarchy in terms that subjugate men, rather than women, Brantenberg highlights the absurdity of these arguments. No additional sources cited.
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3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khegal2.rtf
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society until the advent of womens rights. Brantenberg pictures a world, Egalia, in which the gender roles are reversed and the society is completely matriarchal. By putting the rationalizations for
patriarchy in terms that subjugate men, rather than women, Brantenberg highlights the absurdity of these arguments. The context of the novel basically offers the premise that it is the maintenance
of political power, rather than any inherent differences between the sexes, that forms the foundation for chauvinistic behavior. In Egalia, the female sex (called "wim" in Brantenbergs lexicon) dominate
and subjugate males ("menwim") through a process of systematic belittlement and by keeping males cut off from the public arena and subjugated to the domestic sphere. The novel begins
by addressing issues of gender and what tasks the genders are perceived as capable of performing. Bram, a high-placed official, tell her son Petronius that he cannot be a "seawom"
(seaman) because "After all, it is menwim who beget children" (9). She advises her son to stop reading adventure tales about "seawim" and keep to books designed for boys instead
(9). (I hope this is alright. I know that it is not within the designated page numbers, but it perfectly addresses the theme of "gender and performtivity"). This establishes a
theme that is carried throughout the book--namely, that a rationalization for patriarchy sounds absurd when reversed. Little girls have been told for generations that they could not be
doctors or lawyers or go to sea because their sex was not suited for such professions. As this suggests, the social stratification in Egalia is severe--similar to the US
in the first half of the twentieth century. Brantenberg shows that the perceived helplessness of women is not inherent but rather is a feature that is structured by society. The
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