Rhetorical imagery
The furiousness of the author regarding the treatment of women in society is shown using rhetorical imagery when she tries to question men why they think women are scarce commodities. The author asks, "Why exchange women? Because they are “scarce [commodities] . . . essential to the life of the group,” the anthropologist tells us. Why this characteristic of scarcity, given the biological equilibrium between male and female births? Because the “deep polygamous tendency, which exists among all men, always makes the number of available women seem insufficient.”
Imagery of masculinity
Masculinity works at the advantage of men, which has been passed from one generation to the other. According to the author, the aspect of masculinity works well to disadvantage a woman who has no say. Consequently, the author uses masculine imagery to show the economy of exchange works at giving a man an upper hand in society. The author writes, “The economy of exchange-of desire-is man's business. For two reasons: the exchange takes place between male subjects, and it requires a plus-value added to the body of the commodity, a supplement which gives it a valuable form.”
The societal perception of women
How does society view a woman? The author answers this question using sight imagery to aid readers to see why women are underestimated and less valued in even a completive contemporary society. According to the author, certain roles are imposed on women to make them compliant in a male-dominated world. The author writes, "Mother, virgin, prostitute: these are the social roles imposed on women. The characteristics of (so-called) feminine sexuality derive from them: the valorization of reproduction and nursing; faithfulness; modesty, ignorance of and even lack of interest in sexual pleasure; a passive acceptance of men's "activity"; seductiveness, in order to arouse the consumers' desire while offering herself as its material support without getting pleasure herself.. . Neither as mother nor as virgin nor as a prostitute has woman any right to her own pleasure.”
