Egalia’s Daughters : A Satire of the Sexes

Imagine a world where wim (women) rule the business and the political aspects of society, and their menwim (men) stay at home and take care of the household, the children, and make themselves look pretty by curling their beards. In this world the menwim are the ones responsible for raising children after the wim give birth to them. After all, it is the menwim who beget children (pg 9).In Gerd Brantenberg’s book, Egalia’s Daughter’s, the menwim and children take on the wim’s last name, but the wim after giving birth are free to do as they please, and even receive a bonus for giving birth. If a wom wanted, she could claim the child is not hers, or deny the manwom fatherhood protection, and the mafele (male) would be held responsible by law for bringing up the bastard child. If the menwim of this society do not like the arrangement, well then that’s too bad because the rules are made to benefit only the wim and serve to keep the menwim in their place (at home) where they belong.
Does this world seem laughable? Ridiculous, perhaps? Well, in Egalia’s Daughters this is how the world works. The wim have the power and the menwim are only housebounds needing fatherhood protection to survive since they cannot make enough money on their own. In this society the menwim, like the women of our world, are not equal because they have no say concerning their assigned roles, or their own bodies.
In Egaila’s Daughters we meet Petronius a young manwom growing up and understanding that his fate is dubious in a world that does not respect him as a person. In this novel, menwim are inferior to wim because that’s just the way of nature. Menwim cannot give birth because they do not have a vagina and a uterus. Therefore it is justified to treat the menwim as less than wim. In this society the wim have all the say.
Petronius wants to be a seawom (a diver), but unfortunately for him he cannot be one. He does not have the right equipment. Being a seawom is a wom’s job, and Petronius shouldn’t worry his pretty head so with ardous work. Instead he should be excited about his new peho (a device worn on the penis, much like a jockstrap),the male equivalent to a bra. Petronius’ mother Ba, the director of the family, condescends to poor Petronius that he cannot raise children on a ship.
“And what do you think the child’s mother would say?” Ba asks (9).
Petronius does not have control of his future because of the limits of traditional sex roles. Very much like the women in our society, Petronius will be passed over for a job, or any promotion to a wom no matter how hard he may work, and no matter how deserving he may be. It’s refered to as the “glass ceiling” in our world, and like our women, Petronious will be paid less than a wom doing the same job. Also, he would be more likely than a wom to be criticized and scrutinized and have his competency questioned because of his gender.
Petronius, like the women of our world, does not have control of his body. When Petronius is raped, his mother told him it was his own fault:
“You went for a walk didn’t you?”
Petronius nodded.
“Why can’t you stay at home? Why have you got to go gallivanting at night?”
He answers that he just needed to go down to the beach to meet someone.
“There, I knew it! You went to meet someone. You met her and she assualted you. Ripped off your peho, forced you to have sex with her. That’s what happened, isn’t it Petronius? I only want the best for you”(69).
He denies that it was that way, then his mother implies that he went along with it at his own free will, but then changed his mind and brought the situation on himself. Wim have needs: “You must remember, Petronius-I’m telling you this as a piece of good advice from a mother to her son- you must remember that a wom is a wom, and a wom needs what a wom needs. In the long run, every wom looks at a manwom as a mattress.”
“That’s the only thing that interests her. You mustn’t think she’s going to be content just to talk. You must put yourself in her place, Petronius. Your poor little pole gets excited, and when darkness falls, you can’t expect her to be satisfied with a chat (70).”
Instead of pressing charges against the wim who defiled her son, Ba tells Petronius that he is no longer allowed to go down the beach anymore after dark. Much like in the real world, it is the victim who is punished and not the perpretator. After all, what respectful manwom goes to the beach after dark by himself and expects not to get raped?
If it takes this reversal of roles for men to finally understand how women feel, to walk a mile in our bruising, too-tight, ill-fitting, high-heeled stilletto shoes, then I implore every man to read Egalia’s Daughters twice. It’s a real eye-opener, and maybe then the sexes can finally reach an understanding and possibly even reach equality.