What is Romance?
In the Brave New World, romance is considered as a disgusting, smut word used to describe what savages feel between two people. "Family, monogamy, romance. Everywhere exclusiveness, a narrow channeling of impulse and energy" (Mond, 45). In the future, they have contorted romance into being a horrible unstable bond that people shouldn't have, because it restricts the openness of their relationship with everyone else. "After all, every one belongs to every one else" (Fanny, 48). In our world today, romance brings happiness and joy to anyone who has the luck to experience it. It involves two people who love each other, not just for the sexual intentions, but for the feelings that they get from it. The Brave New World society has completely eliminated the thought of romance, and conditioned people to get happiness by taking soma and having sex with people whenever they're not feeling good, or having feelings besides happiness. This has lead the new society to become brainwashed about romance and love, and create a loss of passion.
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Children |
When a child is decanted, they get conditioned to think that romance is an evil idea that has been banned because it is unnecessary and increases the chances of a mother and father forming. When the children are old enough to walk, play, and talk, they are put out into gardens, naked, to see how they interact with other children. If they are not erotically playing with another child, they are immediately criticized and looked at weird, and sometimes even sent to the Assistant Superintendent of Psychology. If they aren't comfortable allowing themselves to be happy and to explore their sexual desires, they are considered abnormal, and assumptions are made that it had something to do with their blood surrogate.
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Adults |
Adults are a little bit different than children. Adults are allowed to "have" anyone they want, whenever they want, and if they didn't have someone almost every night, people start to become suspicious. They use the term "have" to describe sex with another person, and if they are considered ugly or not attractive, then there would be "orgy porgys" that would be available to anyone once every two weeks. Sex is important for the adults of the new society because if they don't have someone, then they will start to feel lonely or isolated.
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In our world, children are not allowed to play with themselves or with other kids erotically, simply out of fear of becoming an outcast in society. Children are conditioned to not touch other children inappropriately and to wait until marriage to have sex or any sexual play so that they won't have the responsibilities of having children at a young age. It is in a child's nature to explore their bodies and their feelings, but is considered inappropriate to do it with other children. Adults are free to do what they want but the social norm is to have a relationship with one person, and when they know that they will love this person forever, they will marry them. What the Brave New World society feels is appropriate for sex, would be called slutty and lead to affairs between a relationship. In some way, we are becoming the Brave New World because people are being more open with their bodies, and allowing each other to have open relationships instead of committed ones.