The Suppression of Female Voice: Power, Patriarchy, and Resistance in Christina Dalcher’s Vox

Abstract

Patriarchal systems deeply shape societal structures, often relegating women to the position of objects or commodities within cultural, political, and social spheres. This paper analyzes Vox by Christina Dalcher as a modern feminist dystopia that challenges the relationship between power, silence and control by men. By giving critical analysis of the novel’s portrayal of linguistic repression where women are restricted to one hundred words per day, the paper examines how the silencing of the feminine voice is enforced by a greater historical and systematic gendered oppression. Vox reveals how institutions of patriarchy discipline feminine bodies to control speech and identity. The resistance in the novel, both personal and communal, also throws light on the transformational power of returning voice as a source of power. Finally, it is a thesis of this paper that Vox not only reinvigorates the female voice as a source of agency but also gives a strong warning about the vulnerability of the rights of women under patriarchy.