Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep Gender Analysis

Men from various centuries are connected by the misogyny that they preach. In Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the male characters are clearly sexist and believe that they should have power over women. The inherent sexism of the novel is only a fraction of the misogyny that appears across various cultures, religions, and nationalities. Humanity tends to view women as inferior to men.
Seeing women as objects is a common trend. Deckard, thanks to the technology in his world, is able to press a button and give his wife the “pleased acknowledgement of [her] husband’s superior wisdom in all matters,” (Dick 7). Phil Resch later convinces Deckard that female androids only exist to please human men. “Because she--it--was physically

attractive,” this mentality is extremely dangerous since it is only a matter of the time before Deckard and Resch begin to see all women as an it rather than a she (Dick 143). Women are also limited in the freedom of choice as shown when Rachael stated “anyhow, you can’t [get an abortion],” implying that abortion is illegal in this society (Dick 50).
The way that Deckard describes Rachael is also problematic.

He only describes her physical attributes, not her intellect. He even describes her “childlike stance”, indicating possible predatory behavior (Dick 187). He then goes on to describe the rest of her that he finds physically attractive, even saying that her features were more “that of a girl, not a woman,” (Dick 187). Isidore noted Pris’ figure. It was the first detail he noticed about her. “He saw that she had a nice figure,” somehow observing this before noticing that she was not wearing a top (Dick 63).
Many stereotypes about women appear throughout the novel. While going through Rachael’s purse, Deckard noted that she “had every class of object...hidden away in her purse,” (Dick 192). Earlier in the novel Isidore was talking about how he wanted to teach Pris how to cook because “most women, even young ones like her, like to Cook,” (Dick 69). He even believed that the desire to cook is “an instinct” to women (Dick 69).
This misogyny is nowhere near as prevalent among the androids in the novel. It seems that misogyny is a uniquely human trait. Therefore, if we judge the basis of humanity on this belief, androids would not be considered

human.