The Power of Human Fantasy

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Recommended: Gender inequality in female oppression

The degradation of all but one gender through oppression, dehumanized sex, and the embellishment of a false history to favor the empowered gender constructed within Brantenberg’s Egalia’s Daughters parallels the power of superiority that overrides all within the societies seen in Burdekin’s Swastika Night. The abasement of gender seen within these novels compliments the ideals of racism seen within the Nazi reign. The history created within these two novels is based on a desire to hold power over the other gender and or races involved, the desire of a utopia of ranked sexes. This power corrupted those in power and as such the “superior” gender, depending on the book, forced their counterpart into a subordinate role.
Burdekin’s novel utilizes our current world’s history to produce a cautionary tale warning against a totalitarian government’s subordination of women. Totalitarianism is the absolute control of a location by one party; within Burdekin’s work, it is the control of the world by the Nazi regime. In the world of Swastika Night everything leads to some line of paternal German decent. The German ancestry according to “The Hitler Bible” is always one of patriarchy in which women are nothing more than reproductive animals to be used to create more Aryan men and Aryan power. Love warps into the dehumanized rape of women for increased power. Any history of women playing important roles in life is lost, and women are cast into roles of nothingness. This nothingness comes not only from Nazi Germany but also from all males of the human race. The women are considered subhuman and they themselves have no sense of self worth.
On the other hand Brantenberg’s novel exploits the real worlds views of sexuality and applies them in th...

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... last minute changed his mind and as such brought the situation upon himself. Bratenberg is able to criticize current rape culture with the satire found within this section of the novel. Petronius’ mother tells him that it is what he should expect… “You must put yourself in her place, Petronius. Your poor little pole gets excited, and when darkness falls, you cant expect her to be satisfied with a chat” (70) Instead of pressing charges or consoling her son she blames the victim of the crime. A woman, or in this instance a man, should not be blamed for their own victimization based on their choice of location, clothing, or activity. Bratenberg utilizes this scene to paint the picture of how immoral the current societies approach to rape culture really is. Her satirical approach bashes on the consistent victim blaming and lack of repercussion of todays society.

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