Project Text Revision

Idalma Bahena 

Professor Sean Pessin

English 114 B

26 March 2012

All Women Continue to Fight

In today’s world, people search for equal rights and opportunities but they still face problems of discrimination. In the article by Mark R. Schneider he describes discrimination as the “denial of opportunity or equal rights for a specific group of people that may be differentiated by things such as their religion, color of skin, or gender.” In the book Dune and Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert women are not treated equally. In the first book of  Dune by Frank Herbert he shows how women are not able to do as they please but instead must behave how society wants them to act. But the women in this novel are not women who can be put down easily. They are fierce women who fight and stand up for what they believe, even if society has certain attitudes towards a women’s role. This problem does not only exist in the novel of “Dune” and “Dune Messiah” but it also exist in modern day society. Frank Herbert portrays how women in the Dune series challenge gender discrimination issues that women today continue to face.

Even if the novel is considered science fiction, Frank Herbert does a very accurate interpretation on how modern women react to inequality in today’s world. Throughout the rest of the novel there are other examples on how women are not treated equally.  All the women in the book of “Dune” play a significant role and in some points in the novel they are not treated with equality so they go against society. Inequality against women has been a problem that can be seen at all ages and stages of development for a women in any part of the world. Many years ago inequality towards women was more noticeable. Society discriminated women by not giving them a voice. Women were force to stay quite and agree to everything their spouse told them was “right,” if they did speak their mind they would get beaten.

 Women were also seen as men’s property. Women were only considered good for cooking, cleaning, and sex. But this problem is slowly changing because women are challenging the role of a “typical women.” Now a days women are the ones going out to work and are sharing the house hold duties with the men. They are no longer letting men step all over and being treated as less. The women of today are changing the typical roles. But even though women are fighting towards equality it doesn't mean that inequality doesn’t exist. Women who are going out there and getting jobs are getting paid less than males. Back in the day, females were also not allowed to work and if they did work and had the same employment as a man they would get paid less just for being the opposite sex. In the magazine “Time” the author writes that “women earned less than men in all 20 industries and 25 occupation groups” which was a survey that was done by the Census Bureau in 2007. This is an example of how discrimination towards women is still a problem that exist in todays world. Discrimination against women has lowered but not completely disappeared.  Even though Frank Herbert doesn’t go into drastic examples on how women are discriminated, he does show smaller examples on how women in his novel fight for what they believe is fair. 

Throughout the rest of the novel there are other examples on how women are not treated equally and how they speak out. In the first chapter of the novel “Dune” one of the most important women of the novel is introduced and her name is Jessica, Paul’s mother. In the first chapters of the novel “Dune” it is easy to notice that there are certain roles that a women should play in their society. Their society is not any different from todays society because in Western societies they believed that “people should engage in a multitude of social activities and develop multiple social roles”(Nordenmark). In the beginning of this story Reverend Mother comes to Jessica’s house to give Paul who is only 15 years old at the time, a test with her gom jabbar. In the book of “Dune” the word gom jabbar means “that specific poison needle tipped with meta-cyanide used by a Bene Gesserit Proctors in the death-alternative test of human awareness”(Herbert 519). This test is very painful that he describes his experience by saying:

  Pain throbbed up his arm. Sweat stood out on his forehead. Every fiber cried out to  withdraw the hand from that burning pit...The burning! The burning! He thought he could  feel skin curling black on agonized hand, the flesh crisping and dropping away until only  charred bones remained (Herbert 9).

Luckily Paul passes the test and Reverend Mother tells him that he might be the Kwisatz Haderach which is “a male Bene Gesserit whose organic mental powers would bridge space and time” (Herbert 522).  After passing the test Reverend Mother decides to talk to Jessica and instead scolds her by saying “damn that Jessica, if only she’d borne us a girl as she was ordered to do!” (Herbert 6). This is the first example on how women are not treated equally. Jessica is seen as property and not as a women. By bearing a son  instead of a girl, Jessica basically challenges Reverend Mother orders because her insubordination complicates and changes the future as whole. 

 In the book of “Dune” Jessica is only useful for bearing a child and taking a motherly role. In todays society women are still more “often occupied than fathers, with the world of family”(Gilbert). Jessica is not in full control of her life, instead she is ordered by others. She is forced to do as others order her to do so. Frank Herbert uses Jessica to show how in some parts of the world women are used to bear children whenever they are told to do so. But Jessica portrays women who stand up for their beliefs and defy society. Instead of bearing a girl like she is told to do so, she has a boy and goes against the orders she was given. Discrimination continues to exist and in some parts of the world women have no control over their lives. 

When women go against specific orders that were given to them, there are consequences that follow afterwards. In the world of today women are standing up and fighting for their rights, but in many countries that are not as open minded as others the consequences to their actions is violence against women. In present day domestic violence against women is considered to be a very controversial problem and it is a very important problem that people should be aware of.  Many women are being beaten for standing up for what they believe in. Jeanette Krebs writes about how there is still violence against women:

Day in and day out women on the big and not so big screen are raped, maimed and murdered for our viewing pleasure. You could              fill a domestic violence shelter and a morgue from “Law and Order” dramas alone. We do live in a violent society and it is particularly violent for one gender. A woman is sexually assaulted every few minutes in our country. A woman is battered even more frequently.The cases of violence against  women are staggering. Just to name a few, in York County, Kirsten Maurer Taylor died after her husband electrocuted her in 2008 by attaching cables to her body. In April, Emily Rachel Silverstein was strangled and stabbed in the neck by her 22-year-old ex-boyfriend in Gettysburg. The two dated for more than a year, according to reports, but the victim ended the relationship  one week before she was killed (Krebs).

This is an example of what is happening to women in current times.  Many women are being beaten and in worst case scenarios they are being murdered. In Emily Rachel Silverstein situation she broke up with her boyfriend because she didn’t want to be in a relationship with him any longer. Her reason for not wanting to be with him was because she didn't love him any more and felt like she was being used for his own personnel pleasure.  She decided to confront him by speaking her mind and ending her relationship with him. She spoke out and said what she believed, which ended up in violence and to her death. This is a real life situation that has happened in to todays society which confirms that violence towards women still exist.  Frank Herbert uses Reverend Mother to show that violence still occurs towards women when they decide to go against what they believe is right. Reverend Mother tells Jessica that doing what she wants instead of listening to the orders she was given is wrong and that her actions will have serious consequences. Reverend Mother frightens Jessica by saying “ we shall see when you’re a fugitive with a price on you head and every man’s hand turned against you to seek your life and the life of your son”(Herbert 23). In these first chapters Frank Hebert is trying to tell his audience that violence still occurs in todays world if women decide to go against as what is seen right. 

Frank Herbert also uses Jessica to show how women are still seen as property. After Jessica stands up for what she believes, she remembers that she has to obey the orders that she is given and says “ I am a Bene Gesserit: I exist only to serve,”(Herbert 23).  This is another example on how Frank Herbert acknowledges that in some parts of the world women are only seen as property instead of human beings. In many parts of the world women are only here to serve and please their husband. They have to be fully dedicated to them and only exist to serve them. 

Women are also not treated equally when it come to the work place, women are discriminated. Women are seen more as housewives , who are meant to be at home cleaning the house. Frank Herbert shows how women still have a traditional role of organizing and taking care of the house. He uses Jessica once again to show how society discriminates women and give them a typical role of a housewife. When Paul and Jessica move in to Arrakean, she is given the job to decorate the house and unpack. Even though Jessica and Leto treat each other with love and respect, in this chapter Frank Herbert uses Jessica and Duke Leto to portray how in some relationships women do not have a word. When Jessica is unpacking Duncan Leto comes inside and Jessica ask if she could hang a painting of his father in a particular room. Duncan says “no”, but Jessica tries to insist by saying “My lord.” Duncan reacts by cutting her off and not listening to her and says “ the answer remains no” (Herbert 50). Jessica not wanting to fight or go against his order perhaps because she is afraid sighs and agrees with him by saying “ Yes, my lord” (Herbert 50). This is another example of inequality against women, in many parts of the country many women do not have a voice. They are not allowed to do as they please without getting in trouble. They are afraid of the consequences that can happen if they decide to speak their mind. 

Another example on how women are not treated equally or with respect is when Duke Leto tells Jessica to “be thankful that I never married you, my dear. Then it’d be your duty to join me at table for every meal”(Herbert 50). Even though Duke Leto loves her and he knows that Jessica is the love of his life he is not willing to marry her. This makes it seem like just Jessica is just considered a lover. Duke Leto have a very good relation but they are not married. He is not giving her her rightful spot as his wife because it would effect is image as Duke. Even though Jessica is not married to Duke Leto she still plays the role of the wife and does everything a wife should do. Duke Leto has not married her for several reason that would effect him. He has not decided to marry her because if he did it would affect his career. Duke Leto loves her but he is in a way using her for his own personal pleasure like using her for support or to decorate the house. This shows how Jessica is technically his property. He can marry someone else and still have her. She would just been seen as the other women. This once again shows how women are seen as men property. Even if Duke Leto and Jessica are not married she is still forced to play the role of a typical wife. She is not able to go against Duke Leto’s orders, she is not allowed to speak her mind, or disobey him. She does speak her mind though when she believes that it is necessary. There are many current relationships that are like theirs. Women should not be forced to agree with a man says, instead they should fight for what they believe is right. 

The world will always face problems of discrimination against women. Discrimination against women is a very sensitive topic that society faces today. Discrimination against women exist in every part of the world. Discrimination exist in the workplace, at home and in relationships. Frank Herbert shows discrimination in his novel by using the women in his novel to portray modern women of todays society. He uses Jessica to show that women should always speak their mind and do what they believe is right. He also uses Jessica to show how women continue to gain more power in todays world. Jessica is a fighter and in the end she will always do what she believes is right. Modern day women are also fighters and continue to fight for their believes. 

Work Cited 

Fitzpatrick, Laura. "Equal Pay and the Gender Gap: Men Still Outearn Women - TIME."  Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews -  TIME.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. <http://www.time.com/time/nation/art

Gilbert, Lucia, Gary Hanson, and Beverly Davis. "Perceptions of Parental Role Responsibilities:  Differences Between Mothers and Fathers." Family Relations, 31.2 (1982): 261-269.

Krebs, Jeanette. " Violence against women leaves too many sad stories | PennLive.com." Central  PA Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - PennLive.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26  Mar. 2012. <http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/ind

Nordenmark, Mikael. "Multiple Social Roles and Well-Being: A Longitudinal Test of the Role  Stress Theory and the Role Expansion Theory." Acta Sociologica, 47.2 (2004): 115-1

Schneider, Mark R."Perceived Gender" Discrimination? ." FrontPage Magazine . N.p.,  n.d.  Web. 25 Mar. 2012. <http://archive.frontpagemag.com/ readArticle.aspx? ARTID=13081>.