Is Julia's character portrayed in a sexist manor?

[rythegirl]

For being written in the 1950's i would say that a single woman in her twenties that has a job is a pretty modern way to portray a woman. Do you think that she was portrayed in a way that degrades women since people seem to interpret her as immature and not as intelligent as Winston. She does not care very much about the party or the consequences she faces with Winston. However she is very open to sin, just like eve!

[The Atheist]

For being written in the 1950's i would say that a single woman in her twenties that has a job is a pretty modern way to portray a woman.

No. You need to remember that Orwell was projecting his story into the 1980s and WWII had established women as part of the workforce. Further, it's quite plain that all Party women not married and child-rearing would be working within the Party apparatus.


Do you think that she was portrayed in a way that degrades women since people seem to interpret her as immature and not as intelligent as Winston.

No. In many ways, she is more street-wise than Winston. Her mind just works differently and as Winston notes - she is a rebel from the waist down. ;) To compare whether she is degraded in her portrayal, check how she measures up against both Parsons and his wife - a pair of incompetents. Her loathing of Inner Party members gives the lie to her immaturity - to have arrived at the conclusion that the Inner Party is evil, she would need to have thought and arrived at the conclusion. She just thinks differently to Winston - it isn't a better/worse scenario. See how easily she obtains illicit supplies while W can't even find arazor blade, and note that she is the driver of the affair right from the start. If anything, I could make a strong case that she is smarter, better organised and far more aware of how the world actually works than W.

Look at how she arranges the trips, taking care to go via ways that the Thought Police will not connect to any wrongdoing, and ulitmately, whose fault is it that the pair are caught? Winston.


She does not care very much about the party or the consequences she faces with Winston. However she is very open to sin, just like eve!

I think you've missed a couple of important points - I repeat the hatred remark above. To hate as she does requires knowledge - we cannot hate that which we have no experience of. While Julia never gives the reason for her hatred, it's clear that she arrived at the position through consideration.

The Eve/Julia comparison isn't valid either. Eve had everything she could desire, yet chose to sin for sin's sake. Julia's only means of rebellion is the sin itself, which is why it's so attractive for her. Note that W's physical ugliness is an attractant for her, while if she was interested in the sex for the sake of sex, she'd be looking for more attractive types - it's the act of rebellion which is the turn-on for her rather than the act of sin.

[rythegirl]

I have read other people's threads and even your responses and she is refered to several times as immature and less intelligent. I think she is apathetic, not necesserilly unwise, yet to sleep with multiple party members for the sake of rebelling is a bit immoral. Even in one response she is refered to as simple, or more simple than winston. Do you think that she empowers the role of women with her behavior and hatred or adds to a negative connotation.

[The Atheist]

I think you might be confusing the use of the word "simple" when Julia is being discussed - it's simple as in the opposite of complex rather than simple as in not smart. She's apathetic in terms of the politics of the situation, but not so apathetic that she sin't rebelling - albeit in her own way.

Immoral? Certainly in the eyes of the Party and society when the book was written, but because the morality of the Party itself is reprehensible, I can't see Julia as immoral.

I don't think Orwell would have considered things like "empowerment" when he wrote the book - Women's Lib was still some 10-15 years away from becoming discovered/promoted. Is Winston empowering? Is O'Brien? Syme?