The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Women and Femininity Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

Then add idea of tanstaafl. When thing is scarce, price goes up. Women are scarce; aren't enough to go around—that makes them most valuable thing in Luna, more precious than ice or air, as men without women don't care whether they stay alive or not. Except a Cyborg, if you regard him as a man, which I don't." (11.116)

Objectification means that you view a person as an object, not a human being. If you need some help deciding whether a passage is objectifying someone, we recommend this passage. Using marketing terms like "scarce" and comparing an entire sex to commodities like "ice" or "lunch" is pretty much the definition of objectification.

Quote #5

Stu, is no rape in Luna. None. Men won't permit. If rape had been involved, they wouldn't have bothered to find a judge and all men in earshot would have scrambled to help. (11.123)

Here's another one of those opinion splitting quotes. On the one hand, a society with no rape certainly deserves two thumbs way up, but on the other hand, notice that it is because men won't permit it. Why don't the women have a say in this? Shouldn't it be women saying they won't permit rape, and men saying that sounds like a good idea?

Quote #6

I signed right under Hazel—child not could write although was still short on book learning. (15.24)

Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, and that was in 1981, two hundred years after the country was founded. Luna had women sign its Declaration of Independence, so we guess they are ahead of the game.