Egalia's Daughters: Seeing Beyond the Cage Wires

One identifiable cage wire in the matrix of domination prominent in Egalia’s Daughters is the objectification of menwim. The emphasis and value placed upon their looks and their inherent preoccupation from birth with beauty norms is indicative of this. Menwim are held to high beauty standards in Egalian society - satirically mirroring expectations of female beauty in societies today. Most of these standards are highlighted at the Maidmen’s ball and by Petronius’ own concern for his looks throughout the narrative.

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Menwim in Egalian society strive for plumpness in body size and a short menwom is considered more attractive than a tall menwom. Female beauty norms of being tall and thin are inverted in this representation of an attractive menwom. However, they appear to be reinstituted when it comes to hair care and general hygiene. Menwim are expected to maintain hair free bodies, style their beards with curlers and nurture full heads of soft, supple hair. This obsession with the perfectly clean body is demonstrated when Petronius, “frantically [searched] for some cotton-wool. He ran into one of the toilets and dried himself under the arms,” (Brantenberg, 22). A menwim would not be invited into a maidman-room with sweat stains on his shirt (Brantenberg, 15). All of these expectations are adhered to in order to achieve the ‘groomed look’ all wim desire.

These ideals of menwim beauty are highly contrasted by the descriptions of an attractive wom, which the book only briefly engages in discussing, due to the fact that what a wom looks like is not as imperative to her success as it is to menwim in Egalian society. There is a larger emphasis on the qualities of her personality and confidence rather than her monochromatic pantsuit. For example, Petronius describes his attractive Mum as, “When she moved, she always did so purposefully and efficiently. Her voice...always gave the impression that she knew what she was talking about, even when she didn’t. That was how a wom ought to be,” (Brantenberg, 11). The objectification of menwim and the valuing of their looks is highlighted by this contrast to wim.

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Bags and shoes are also essential items that make up this attractive menwom identity. This is demonstrated when Petronius nearly forgets, “the little luminous handbag, a special one for the ball, which had to be fastened to the gold cord,” (Brantenberg, 23). Additionally, the pain he feels squeezing into his tight shoes exemplifies the physical sacrifices menwim make to adhere to the beauty standards in Egalian society. The high value of bags, shoes and other accessories hints at the economization of the male gaze in society today. This is an example of John Berger’s concept from Ways of Seeing, where the image of women are designed to flatter men (272, Berger). A woman, “comes to consider the surveyor and the surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as a woman,” (Berger, 271). In this way, the identity of a manwom cannot be disentangled from the wom’s gaze; menwim appear and wim act.

 

Not only are menwim making physical sacrifices and dealing with discomfort for their outfits (fashion over function), but they are also pressured to spend vasts amount of time and money perfecting their looks. This is one way the objectification of menwim and the beauty standards of Egalian society limits menwim’s options. Menwim’s preoccupation with their appearance aids in building an identity of weakness and subservience by disengaging attempts to cultivate intellect, ostracizing them from vocational positions. The objectification of menwim contributes to their economic oppression. Furthermore, the shame attached with all of these natural conditions of the human body weighs heavily on the menwim and is weaponized to ensure obedience and adherence to these beauty norms. The peho and the shamebag exemplify how this shame is employed in the daily lives of menwim.

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The masculinist movement addresses this cage wire of objectification and adherence to beauty norms by the peho burning, the first of many public outcries against the impossible expectations and shame attached with menwim beauty (Brantenberg, 222). Similarly, their consciousness-raising efforts in the, “Fighting Cock” menwim’s group cultivated a recognition of common experience and led to questioning why so much shame was instilled in menwim’s bodies. The masculinist movement confronted the objectification of menwim by publicly questioning their oppression and reclaiming their own bodies.  

 

Work Cited

 

Berger, John.  “Ways of Seeing.” In Gender in a Transnational World, edited by Inderpal Grewal and Caren Kaplan (New York: McGraw Hill, 2006), 269-273.

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Brantenberg, Gerd. Egalia's Daughters: a Satire of the Sexes. Translated by Louis Mackay, Seal Press, 2004.