Women Matter In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Women Matter In the book “Of Mice and Men” by Steinbeck, they lack women and the women that are in the book are not treated as equals. In the whole book only one women is presented and only two women are talked abou. The one woman in the book is cheated on, the men visit prostitutes on the weekends, and the women do not have names. When the men talk about women they talk as if they were just property, as if they are not even people nor do they have any feelings. Through the book there is only one women that is always there the whole book. That women is Curley’s wife. She is not allowed to talk to any other man that is not her husband. She truly is not as bad as the author makes her look. She just lacks other friends and because Curly does not let her out or talk to anyone, she tries to get the attention and friendship she wants from the men who work on the farm. Also
notice that she has no name. Well of course she does have a name, but the author made sure we only know her by Curley’s wife and not her birth name. The way they present women in this story makes them all look like they have no respect for themselves, as if they just throw themselves at the men. Which is not entirely true. George talks about wanting a women at the beginning of the story, he also talks about just going to pay for one just for a night, and the men at the farm go and pay for prostitutes when they receive their paychecks. When George gets in an argument with Lennie in the beginning of the book he says that if it was not for Lennie he could have all the women he want, maybe even settle down with one. In this book there is only one married man, which by the way is unfaithful and disrespectful.
This man is Curley. He goes out with the men who work on his father’s farm to get prostitutes. His wife is very aware of what is going on with her husband, but she does not really love him. She has to deal with him because people back in that day should be married at the age they are at. He does not let her speak to anyone that is not him, but that does not stop her from trying. He is very possessive of her and controlling. People might argue that the lack of women in this story is because it is simply not about them so they are not needed. Even if that was true, which it is not, that does not explain why the only women that does show up is treated poorly and not as an equal. Also the other women that are talked about do not have names, for example: Curley's wife, the girl with the red dress, and the different prostitutes. There is only one other women that we do get a name for, and that is Aunt Clara. She is Lennie’s Aunt, the one who cared for him when he was
young.