Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed

In Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, the rival societies of Urras and Anarres are structural opposites. In capitalist Urras, there is private property, a system of currency, and a class system permeated with inequalities while on Anarres (founded on the principles of anarcho-communism), possession of land is abolished and the idea of “mutual aid and solidarity” (Le Guin X) rules over any form of self-indulgence. These dissimilarities extend past the sphere of administrative policies into the domain of social relations. Most significantly, Urras and Anarres hold contradicting stances on the controversial topic of gender equality. In Urras, women are deemed as the physically and intellectually inferior sex and lead monotonous lives as housekeepers

They are often described as bare-breasted and “adorned with jewelry, lace and gauze” (Le Guin X). Why do the women of Urras clothe themselves so lavishly and, from the perspective of contemporary American society, so scantily? With a cursory analysis, we might theorize that the women of Urras are only materialistic and sexual objects (which they are in some regards). However, with a diligent glimpse, we can see that the women of Ioti high-society are also “body profiteers” (Le Guin X) or women who utilise their physique as a means to achieve power in a disenfranchised position. We can see an illustration of this concept in the way that Vea, the sister of the protagonist’s colleague Oiie, is able to utilize her jewels and naked chest to enchant the said protagonist Shevek. We may scoff at the idea of a woman relying solely on her femininity in order to achieve desirable ends; however, for the women of Urras, their bodies are their sole ammunition. They can not wield their intellect against the gender hierarchy for not only are they believed to be incapable of astute thinking (as previously mentioned), but they are barred from expanding their acumen at the universities. They cannot rally against the inequality in the form of a demonstration, for such protests often have deadly ends (as evidenced by the mass slaughter of rebels in the book’s ninth chapter). Thus, wealthy Urrasti women are left to deftly work around gender stereotypes using the grandeur and sensuality of their frames.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, the females of Anarres are depicted as having unshaven bodies, “muscles…[and] big, flat feet” and wearing “ boots….[and] sensible clothing” (Le Guin X). Anarresti woman do not have to be “body profiteers” like Urrasti women because they are not coming from a place of vulnerability. They are given the same liberties as their male counterparts: the opportunity