In today’s society, gender equality and equal rights is a large and reoccurring debate that is becoming a larger movement everyday. In the text, “Bitch Planet”, the author displays a many cases, which explain the sexist society that the main character Penelope experiences. The influence of a sexist society such as the text “Bitch Planet” displays has a very large impact on both the people and the production of the nation which the author is trying to reflect from today’s actual society and the gender problems that our nation is currently experiencing.

In the text “Bitch planet”, the society is run by a group that calls themselves the “fathers” who appear to have complete control over the entire population. In this case, the author is trying to compare this society to the society that we see ourselves in today. Further in the story, the main character Penelope learns how the “fathers” run the male dominant society and how they allow women to be portrayed by not only those who are in higher powered positions, but all men alike. In one scene or panel of images, Penelope learns from one of the “Mothers”, who are the people responsible for monitoring those women who have been sent to the bitch planet, to view her through the eyes of the fathers in order to remain out of trouble and upsetting the them. This is yet again another example of the society and how the men have taken complete control, forcing the women to live a life of suppression and inequality. This also relates to the overall theme, which is based on comparing this text to the current situation that women all around the world are experiencing. The theme of this text is actually displayed multiple times throughout the story and is visible by following the events involving Penelope and how she acts out against the everyday life style that men have put on women, by not doing as she is told.

The main idea of this passage is focused on Penelope’s experiences in the society. In the beginning of the text, the reader sees how Penelope first encounters the society when she was taken away from her from her grandma and sent to bitch planet. She was taken away from her home and forced to work at a muffin shop, which is obviously not how she would like to live her life, but since she is a woman, she has no choice. However, it is in this muffin shop where Penelope rebels after hearing the woman talk around here about how they have to live their lives because of the influence of the men and hearing the men tease her about her manly appearance. Then we see Penelope in the room with the fathers and them trying to comprehend how she sees her perfect self and how she can fit back into society. At this point, the fathers feel like they are doing her a favor by not punishing her. The visual aspect of this text at this certain moment allows the reader to truly comprehend what is happening because Penelope, in this society, is viewed as the bottom or scum of the women because of her hideous appearance and multiple offenses against the law. By simply seeing Penelope’s image, the reading knows that she is not the ideal woman that the fathers are looking for, which is against the ways of this very sexist society. 

Towards the end of the text, the fathers hook up Penelope to a machine, with the hoping end goal to be being able to see Penelope’s ideal self. This is a very important scene of the text because it ties the text together and also reflects the theme of the perfect society that the fathers want but Penelope does not provide. After seeing that Penelope’s vision of her ideal self matches the hideous woman that the fathers see before them, it proves that she is not apart of their society and that her true ideal self cannot be altered or tampered with by those around her. At the moment that Penelope realizes that her image of her ideal self reflects that of her true self, she realizes that she has the upper hand of the situation and then recognizes that the fathers cannot change her to their standards like they did to the other women. However, she realizes that she can only decide her ideal self and that nobody has the power to decide how others should view her or how she should live her life. 

The main character, Penelope, plays a very large role in this text by helping the reading comprehend the theme. In the text, she is seen as a very manly and large woman that is not like the others in the society or what the fathers expect the woman to look like. Throughout the text, Penelope realizes that she does not belong in a society that is controlling and sexist. By acting against the normal life style in the muffin shop, Penelope realized that she could no longer live the life that the men have decided for her, but she should be able to live how she wants and by her standards, not by what somebody says or wants. The final scene of “Bitch Planet” truly allows Penelope to recognize that the fathers cannot force someone’s ideal self upon them after seeing her reflection during the experiment. This Scene relates to the both the theme of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, which applies to Penelope’s actions and appearance, and the overall controlling presence of the men in the society, which is meant to reflect today’s society and gender inequality.