2001: A Space Odyssey Women and Femininity Quotes

The man-apes appear to be very patriarchal; the guys are in control. This may seem like an anthropological truth—folks often assume that earlier people, not to mention earlier apes, were male-dominated. In reality, though, many researchers believe that social relations among hunter-gatherer peoples were often very egalitarian—strict gender divisions in labor and power only came along later. Some of this research is since Clarke's time. But still, it's worth realizing that the vision of early man as male-dominated is not necessarily a truth; it's a story he's decided upon.

Throughout the book, the novel uses "man" to mean "human beings." This is most noticeable with the "man-apes," not all of whom are men. Using "man" instead of human is supposed to sound more impressive—but it also reflects the extent to which there just aren't women in the book. The explorers, the inventors, the part of humanity that ascends up the evolutionary ladder—all those folks we see, just about, are men. As far as the book is concerned, it is the ascent of man. Women are off taking care of the kids, and doing whatever else they do while men head for the stars.

The lady of the press is about the only women in the novel we see who does not have a job like "stewardess." The reporter here is presented slightly satirically ("very short and determined"), and as an annoyance, trying to ferret out gossip from the competent, tight-lipped Dr. Floyd. Men do important manly things in space; women bother them.