In Julia’s world, people wear sashes to indicate sexual availability (Anti-Sex League, artsem). What do you think of this system?

In Julia’s world, people wear sashes to indicate sexual availability (Anti-Sex League, artsem). What do you think of this system?

I thought it was interesting that this system existed, but wasn't surprised that it really wasn't adhered to (at least by Julia). Many people live their lives pretending to be something they're not, and I think in Julia's world a certain level of deception was necessary to survive.

I was reminded of Margaret Atwood's book, Oryx and Crake, in which the humanoids that were bred turned blue when sexually available. I thought at the time that was a pretty sweet system. I'd think some obvious visual clues would really cut down on a lot of misunderstandings!

I agree with kimk that it was an interesting system, though totally ineffective since no one was being honest about their availability. I feel that there should be a balance with sexuality; some privacy about one's personal choices but also total freedom to be what one wants as long as no one is getting harmed. No one should feel ashamed or unsafe about their gender choices or sexuality or asexuality. In Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" Hester is ostracized by her Puritan neighbors, many of whom had committed the same behavior as her. Humanity always seems to be advocating do as I say not as I do. This is certainly the case in "1984" and "Julia" - there is a harsh public policy and the ever present undercurrent of reality, just more misinformation....

It struck me as odd, as it was clearly a meaningless gesture—but a plausible attempt by a dictatorship to make easy to label people to signal how they are supposed to be treated, akin to the star Jews had to wear under the Nazis. Or that Scarlet A that gloriam mentioned.

But people do this on their own, all the time, not just under dictatorships. The practice of wearing things as social cues (to one’s sexuality, availability, status, faith, politics, etc.) has a long history across all cultures including ours. Julia’s sash is not unlike a wedding ring (supposed to show you are unavailable, but much honored in the breach), or a T-shirt proclaiming your cause, or a Prada bag to send a status message that may or may not be true… And then there are tattoos and body piercings. As social animals we seem to have a need, many of us at least, to “express ourselves,” to send visual signals to potentially like-minded strangers, about something important to us.

The sash in Julia's world might have been intended to ward off unwanted advances, but then people with power were violating rules anyway so it was a joke. As some other readers have mention, we have wedding rings, slogan tee-shirts, earrings in certain places to symbolize something or other, clothing and haircut choices that can be clues to people's preferences. Did sashes guarantee correct behavior? No, and as we all know, neither do wedding rings. Ultimately, two people who are genuinely interested in each other still seem able to convey that, and the world goes on.

When I think of sashes, I think of something on a gown in a beauty pageant or something won in a competition. I found myself briefly chuckling every time Newman mentioned Julia’s sash because of the juxtaposition of wearing a sash over a pair of grimy coveralls after a long day working on machines in the Ministry of Truth. I kept wondering whether the sash was red (like the “A” in Scarlet’s Letter), or whether it was worn and grimy or in reasonable good condition. I agree with several of the comments already made with regard to how wearing specific clothes, getting tattoos or piercings can signal different interests or beliefs. I am okay with that when an individual selects these things. I am not okay with this when government or specific groups require that these are worn by members of society.

I do not like the idea at all. It is just another way of labeling people and thus controlling them.
It is like you cannot have a private thought.

It seems like it was another way of putting women in their place and maybe even perpetuating the lies. Like knowing most women were pregnant before they went through the artsem process. And going even farther to saying they were being inseminated by Big Brother's sperm. In the end, it didn't matter because the lie would be that Big Brother had all these little babies growing up in his image, when most, if not all of the babies were not his.