Gender and Feminist Criticism in Oryx and Crake

Written by Cathy Jing

            Jimmy, throughout his entire life, has not once been in a healthy relationship with a woman. As a child, he tormented his mother just to satisfy his thirst for attention. He never really like Ramona, his step-mother. He loved Oryx dearly, but the relationship clearly was not mutual because she had an affair with Crake as well. The most detrimental relationships, however, are all of the affairs in between that were not with girlfriends, but with lovers—married women who wanted Jimmy on the side. Through these relationships, both men and women are stereotyped, though women are more than men.

            Although it seems that men are stereotyped as sex machines, upon closer examination, it seems that women are as well. In this section, Jimmy begins to romp around with married women, instead of dating his classmates or, at least, women of his age. He uses the thrill of the impromptu visits and the secrecy to fulfill his sexual desires. These affairs become so much of his life that he feels restless and “jerked around by his own dick, as if the rest of him was merely an inconsequential knob” (Atwood 306). Although Jimmy feels no emotional connection to these women, he will continue these relationships to fulfill this masculine aspect of him.

            The women in these relationships are no different. While, in general, women are treated as sexual objects (will explain later), they, too, commit adultery to satisfy their needs. In fact, the women used these relationships for sex. As Jimmy says, they only care about him from the waist down (344).

            The purpose of equating this animalistic role to both men and women is to further support the necessity for Crake’s remedy for mankind. He believed that humans were flawed because there were too many sexual frustrations or aggression, which prevented, biologically speaking, their mating frequencies. By showing that both men and women are like this, it provides reason to Crake’s viral “solution” in the story. (To the reader, of course, whether his virus is a clear solution is debatable.) Through this element of Oryx and Crake, Atwood could even be stating an opinion of her own. In society, sexual desires are more often found in males than in females, or, at least, the topic is usually equated with males. By showing that females are no different, Atwood may be urging us to think more openly about it.

            Feminist criticism is the patriarchal belief that criticizes female stereotyping, especially qualities that repress or degrade women. One common critique in literature is the treatment of women as objects. This is exactly how women are portrayed in the last section of Oryx and Crake. In general, Jimmy uses women to satisfy his sexual desires. In fact, “he no longer thought of these women as girlfriends: now they were lovers. They were all married or the equivalent […] There was no reason he couldn’t have several of them at once, as long as he was conscientious about his scheduling” (303). Jimmy is inconsiderate towards these women, first, because he is committing adultery (even though this is mutual, it is not okay). However, Jimmy justifies himself as long as his other partners don’t find out. He completely disregards the potential of hurting them, and treats them as objects he can use.

            Jimmy is also highly judgmental of women and their appearances; he is, again, viewing them as objects rather than people. He looks down upon, especially, the scientist women at Watson-Crick Institute. He didn’t “think much of the Watson-Crick women on offer” (247). He thinks the world revolves around him and that there must always be a line of women around him that he can date. By saying this, he disregards these women’s engineering careers at Watson-Crick, and reduces them to potential lovers. He furthers his disdain for these women when they don’t react to his sexual approaches: “Considering their slovenliness, their casual approach to personal hygiene and adornment, they ought to have fainted at the attention" (248). This perfectly outlines the criticism that society is male-dominant and that the men think they are above the women. By saying this, Jimmy thinks the women at the institute should admire Jimmy’s advances, and swoon at him because they are not used to the attention. Again, he fails to realize that the women at the institute are meant to fulfill men’s desires, which is a very historical way of thinking. He not only bases his opinion of these women on their appearance, but also disregards their intelligence and their capabilities. Society, now, has certainly moved on from these misogynistic views.

            I don’t think these views are Atwood’s own opinions. Although she is characterizing the world as patriarchal, she doesn’t necessarily believe in them. Stereotyping men and women is just evidence that Crake’s solution is actually based on the sexual qualities of humans. The Handmaid’s Tale was written like this as well. Although Gilead reduced women to mere breeders, the foreboding messages about feminism show that she obviously does not think women should be treated as objects. As for objectifying women, I think this is just a cautious warning that society might eventually become like Jimmy’s attitude towards women.

Atwood, Margaret. Oryx and Crake. Toronto: Seal Books, 2004. Print