“Better Does Not Mean Better for Everyone” – Gender Oppression in 20st Century Speculative Fiction : How Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale Can be Used to Increase Learner Motivation and in Teaching Critical Thinking

Sammanfattning: This essay analyzes the narrative surrounding women’s right to autonomy in two novels in the Speculative Fiction genre, more specifically the 20th century dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985), and the anti-utopian novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932), while arguing for the pedagogical merit of both works. Matters regarding female independence and gender equality are in consistent flux, and any uprise in feminist movements and female emancipation has most commonly been met with resistance. In the overarching aims of the curriculum of upper secondary school it is stated that the education must promote values such as equality, solidarity and inclusivity. As women’s rights to their own bodies are currently under debate in several contexts, students are likely to have been exposed to contemporary discussions on gendered oppression. For these reasons, analyzing how the female body has been rendered in historical and contemporary texts is arguably both relevant and important. As this essay discusses, gender and power relations have remained relevant in political developments: reproduction rights continue to feature prominently, whether in narratives of future worst-possible scenarios, or in speculative fiction. Lastly, this essay proposes that using Speculative Fiction in the L2 classroom can increase learner motivation.