Prelude to Foundation: To what extent does gender influence someone’s opinion, and does
it change? An Academic paper by Lienke de Poorter
The topic of whether males and females need and want equality is a widespread subject,
that has remained a conversation starter since the introduction of this consensus a long time
ago. There are many speculations about this topic, and especially in books, the opinions vary
greatly. Male only protagonists and badly written female characters are definitely not
unheard of in the world of literature. In Prelude to foundation, written by Isaac Asimov, one
could say that the main protagonist’s opinion of women changes throughout the book. This
paper will focus on the main protagonist’s, Hari Seldon’s, view of women, and especially his
view of his sidekick Dors. The main focus will be whether his opinion on women actually
changes or if he only changes his opinion for the women he loves. Does his opinion of
women even matter, knowing that Dors, in the end, is not even a woman, but a robot?
Seldon bases his opinion solely on the physical aspects of women. Throughout the book
Seldon meets multiple women, describing their hair, facial features and other physical
attributes. He even goes as far as to regretfully state that some of their clothing is not as
revealing as he would have liked. “Their clothes were not particularly revealing, he noted
regretfully, and not one had any sign of décolletage, although some dresses seemed to be
designed to emphasise the buttocks.” (Asimov, 1988, p. 47)
At the beginning of the book, the reader might think Seldon’s opinion on women is solely
based on their physical aspects, disregarding their personality or skills, or looking any further
than what there is to see on the outside. Seldon does this on multiple occasions. This also
counts for the moment he meets his future ally and wife, Dors. We get to know his opinion
on her looks. Reading this could make one think that this is sexist, since almost all of
Seldon’s encounters with women are described by Seldon judging their looks, as we saw in
the previous quote. But, something changes. For Dors we also get to know some more
detailed thoughts of his. This can be seen in their future conversations, where Hari finds out
her age but also her talents later on in the novel.
Hari finds it all but too difficult to believe that Dors is a history professor with a doctorate,
stating that she looks ‘no older than 24’. Dors mentions that she is there to take care of
Seldon, but Seldon doubts that and says that she might be a little too young for the job. At
the beginning of the book one might think that Seldon does not respect women enough for
their talents and skills, but this changes in the course of the book as his personal feelings for
Dors change and as he sees how she is treated on the other planets. Seldon begins to
respect Dors and sees that she is indeed capable of protecting him. But the question is, does
he actually change his opinion on women in general, or does he only change his opinion of
Dors as the women in question?
It would not be an Asimov book, should it not contain sexism. The book is full of it. Every
planet in the book has a different culture and way of life, as well as a way of how they treat
women. When Hari and Dors arrive on Mycogen, it is immediately clear that the way Dors,
and all the other women, are treated, is not what they are used to. Women are forbidden to
speak, unless spoken to by a man first. There is a clear distinction between male and female,
one that is totally unnecessary, according to Seldon. One could say Asimov even made it
obvious by his choice of names, clearly referring to the misogynistic way of life on Mycogen.
Seldon had never needed to come up for women’s rights before. Why should he? He is a
man and has never been negatively influenced by the misogynistic way some women are
treated. This all changes of course, when he begins to establish feelings for Dors. It is
understandable that seeing someone you care about being treated that way, raises at least a
few emotions. But how much does it really impact him? And how far is Seldon willing to go
to actually change his perspective on women? When in Mycogen, it becomes clear that
women have to do the cooking for the men. The fact that Dors does not know how to cook is
a big astonishment for the Mycogenians. For the Mycogenians, women belong in the
kitchen, and this is mentioned multiple times throughout this section of the novel. Even
going as far as to say: ‘in the kitchen, where my woman prepared it.’, where women are
portrayed as tools and objects. Seldon has never learnt to cook or even use kitchen devices,
since he never had to. Seldon, however, doesn’t get any dirty looks because just like all the
other men in Mycogen, men aren’t supposed to cook. Seldon does not necessarily like this
way of using women as personal slaves, but does not immediately take any action or show
any concerns. Seldon does also shows no willingness to learn it. “‘And I do not know how to
use the kitchen devices, nor do I know how to prepare the food. Do you eat it raw, fry it, boil
it, roast it...?’ ‘I cannot believe you are ignorant in such matters.’” (Asimov, 1988, page 200)
Dors is absolutely taken aback by how sexist these people are. Seldon agrees with her, and
begins to realise the barbaric ways of Mycogen and how this affects Dors. He does not
believe, however, that he and Dors are going to be able to make any differences and he
mentions that the women living on Mycogen, the Sisters, do not seem to mind it so much.
So why spend their time making futile attempts at changing things that have been this way
for such a long time, when the women (whose lives they are talking about) do not seem to
mind that much? “I know. It’s infuriating. But they might well make ‘wife’ sound like an
appanage as well. It’s the way they live and the Sisters don’t seem to mind. You and I aren’t
going to change it by lecturing.” (Asimov, 1988, p. 209) Seldon then continuous by changing
the subject. As we all know, women have fought for their rights for many years and will
definitely not stop doing so when needed. With a novel that takes place more than 12,000
years into the future, one might presume that women have fought for many more rights in
the time between now and then. We can assume that as long as we see results in fighting for
what we believe in, we will keep doing so. Seldon, obviously knowing the Sisters are not
going to stand up for their rights, does not think it is necessary to help them. “‘They seem to
take it for granted, by the way, that I will be doing all the shopping and cooking.’ ‘As we say
at home, ‘when in Trantor, do as the Trantorians do.’’ ‘Yes, I was sure that would be your
attitude in this case.’ ‘I’m only human’, said Seldon. ‘The usual excuse’, said Dors with a
small smile.” (Asimov, 1988, p. 211)
This only adds to the fact that it might not be Seldon’s opinion on women that is changing,
but just his opinion on Dors, since he does not really want or think he can change anything.
One might say that it is easier to just follow the crowd, when what others do does not
negatively impact yourself.
Moreover, when the group find out more information about the history of things. The exact
opposite of Mycogen, regarding gender equality, is Aurora. Aurora was the home-planet of
the Mycogenians. The descendants of the Aurorans, the Mycogenians, have changed so
much over the years that they are now indistinguishable from their original Settlers and no
longer live by the same values as the Aurorans used to. As much as the Aurorans valued
gender equality and social mobility, Mycogen has this obvious sexist and restrictive
oppression of women, as has been discussed before. The Mycogenians, however, deny this
primordial peace, obviously being happy with the way things are going right now and Dors
and Seldon find out that, even though the Mycogenians believe to be the successors of the
Aurorans, they are no longer anything alike. “Dors shook her head. ‘I can’t bear to hear a
human being spoken of with contempt just because of his group identification—even by
other human beings. It’s these respectable people here who create those hooligans out
there.’” (Asimov, 1988, p. 380) Dors is, when it comes to standing up for one’s rights, totally
opposite of Seldon. Where Seldon mentions that trying to change something is a futile
attempt, Dors actually fights the strict rules set in place, and continues to do so even outside
of Mycogen. “‘Is that the largest you have?’ ‘Best woman’s knife made.’ ‘Show me a man’s
knife.’ ‘You don’t want one that’s too heavy. Do you know how to use one of these things?’
‘I’ll learn and I’m not worried about heavy. Show me a man’s knife.’ (Asimov, 1988, p. 357)
Seldon does not always agree with the fact that she does this, wanting to keep her safe,
knowing that women are sometimes treated badly. “‘You mustn’t take Mistress Venabili.
Women sometimes are treated... worse.’ ‘She won’t go,’ said Seldon. ‘I’m afraid she will,’
said Dors with quiet determination.”(Asimov, 1988, p.356) It is obvious that Seldon does this
to protect her, but by doing this he is not giving her the freedom she wants and not putting
any faith in her. It also still shows that Seldon thinks this is not a job for a woman.
Nearing the end of the book, as we soon find out, Dors seems to be no woman at all. She is a
robot designed by Chetter Hummin to protect Seldon on his road to solving psychohistory.
During the whole book we notice Seldon’s opinion on Dors as a woman subtly change, all but
to find out that his opinion was never of importance for Seldon. For Seldon, Dors is a
representation of the female kind, but when he finds out that she is not a female after all, he
does not care. Seldon does not see female or robot, he sees Dors. Seldon asks Dors, right on
the very last page of the book, whether or not she has ever felt any attraction towards a
man before. Dors answers by stating she has not, and feels sad that she, as a robot, is unable
to feel the exact same way about Seldon as he feels for her. But, just when you think this is
the end, Seldon and Dors kiss. When they stop, Dors smiles and asks Seldon to kiss her again.
So, what does this say about Seldon’s opinion of women? Throughout the book Seldon has
come across multiple moments where his own opinions and beliefs were tested. Because of
this, his opinion has been sculpted into something new. But what opinion changed exactly?
We can now speculate that his opinion on women has never really changed a lot, only his
opinion of Dors has. Over the course of the book Seldon has shown the reader that he cares
for Dors, but is not really fond of having to come up for female rights in general. This shows
that he has not specifically changed his opinion on women, but just for the woman he loves.
He grants Dors her freedom and sees that she is indeed capable of protecting him and doing
her job. Something that doesn’t even seem to matter, since she is not even a woman in the
end, but a robot. Seldon has seen Dors separate from the other women for almost the entire
novel anyway, so the fact that she is not a woman does not change anything for him. But, do
we know for sure? No.
Reference List;
Asimov, I. (1988). Prelude to Foundation. Bentam Dell.