Reading Response – 10/24

Margaret Atwood’s “Year of the Flood” presents a plausible situation (in my opinion) of biological warfare through corporate consumption of products. For this reading response, I wanted to focus on Toby’s history as it reflects situations for different women currently in the United States.

For example, when Toby works as a furzooter after the death of her parents, she is sexually assaulted by people with furry fetishes. While Toby did not consider it rape, she didn’t consider it sexual assault either. She was knocked to the ground and had people rub their pelvises against her body; IT WAS SEXUAL ASSAULT. However, because she essentially has no identity, she would not have been able to report it to authority. They would have found out about her father’s death and his illegal rifle and she would have had the blame placed on her. Her situation is similar to the reality of many sex workers in the United States. Many of them cannot report rape or sexual assault out of fear that they would be arrested for their illegal work.

Furthermore, Toby’s relationship with Blanco at SecretBurger resembles that between a pimp and the women they manage. Sex workers can get killed or injured due to angering their pimp (i.e. Dora’s death) and often end up being in abusive relationships with little means of being able to escape.

Prior to her work at SecretBurger, Toby later becomes an egg donor for pay. The complications that she experiences are like those of egg donors today. Female college students are often targeted for their eggs and many of the donors become infertile or suffer medical complications that make them ill just like Toby.

While “Year of the Flood” is a work of fiction, Toby’s experiences as a woman are very real.