Die Töchter Egalias

In her classic, Norwegian author Gerd Brantenberg takes readers on a journey to the land of 'Egalia'. Formally, all individuals there are equal, but Petronius and his male peers are not entirely convinced – they experience daily that as young men, they are subjected to a thousand restrictions, while women seemingly have free rein. The book follows Petronius, the son of the respected director Bram, through the stages and hurdles that many young men in Egalia must navigate if they wish to become happy and caring family fathers and househusbands. However, the inequality-laden daily life increasingly weighs on Petronius and his friends, prompting them to organize. The conflicts also spill over into their private lives, and in the tension between love, pain, and political activism, the emerging man searches for his place in a woman-dominated society. Gerd Brantenberg successfully highlights issues that should be obvious through her reversal of gender roles, while also exposing structures that are not always immediately apparent. Some may argue that there is nothing left to resolve regarding gender inequality today, as legal equality has been achieved and women (or men in Egalia) can become anything they want. However, daily life tells a different story, and this book provides a good opportunity for men, who may see themselves as progressive, to question how gender discrimination is continually reproduced in capitalism. It is hoped that it will serve as encouragement for men, women, and people of all genders to take up the common struggle against oppression and a system that requires it to exploit the majority.