An Analysis of Egalia's Daughters

Topics: Gender, Sociology, Feminism Pages: 4 (1697 words) Published: October 29, 2008
In the satire of the sexes, Egalia’s Daughters by Gerd Brantenberg, there is put forth a society different from which has ever been present in modern times. This would be a society where women were at the forefront and did the decision making, worked and held governmental positions. The men were portrayed in the way females live in present society, though it was often exaggerated to make that point. Men were dominated and ruled by women and had to do their bidding and cook for them and take care of the children, so on and so forth. By taking a hard look at how sexuality is imagined and experienced on all analytical levels and picking apart the social construction of gender in Egalia’s Daughters, society itself in the present can start to be unraveled as well. What is found in this book can transfer over to a point and parallel itself with present experiences of women and their struggle for equality, recognition and acknowledgement.

In order to fully analyze the sexes in this book, the micro, meso and macro levels need to be looked at individually to observe where sexuality is imagined and experienced by both genders. On the micro level, the sexes are very different from one another in this book. The women are expected to be large in weight and wear pants and shirts. The men are often wearing skirts and blouses with a contraption called a peho which holds their genitals in place. This can be compared with a bra to women in society today. When Patronius Bram has to buy his first peho he’s struck with much anxiety and wondering. This means he’s beginning to enter adulthood and will attend the Maidmen’s Ball. Here is where boys expect to be “swept off their feet” by a certain woman and taken into a maidmen-room and engage in some sort of sexual activity. The boys expect it to be a wonderful experience and hope to have actual intercourse. The women on the other hand appear rather rowdy and in it only for the sexual relations. The whole goal of this ball is for the...


Cited: Brantenberg, Gerd. Egalia 's Daughters : A Satire of the Sexes. New York: Seal P, 2004.
Hogeland, Lisa M. "Fear of Feminism." In Theory Nov.-Dec. 1992: 18-21.
Johnson, Allan G. "Patriarchy, the System." Women 's Lives : Multicultural Perspectives. By Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages, 2006.
Lorber, Judith. "The Social Construction of Gender." Women 's Lives : Multicultural Perspectives. By Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages, 2006.
Pratt, Minnie B. "Who Am I If I 'm Not My Father 's Daughter." Women 's Lives : Multicultural Perspectives. By Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages, 2006.
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