The world has evolved greatly since its creation. We have skyscrapers and heavy metal contraptions can fly in the air. We are no longer hunters and gathers we rely on technology to get most of our tasks done. Even though we have come a long way gender roles and stereotypes have yet to change. The difference between what a typical man and a typical woman is still being based on the stereotypes our forefathers created. In Octavia Butler’s short story Speech Sounds she tackles the issues that women face in society and how unfair they are treated. Her story has a feminist outlook on the world.

The main character Rye a young woman trying to survive while living in a dystopian society. The world around her has collapsed because people no longer have the ability to communicate properly. When a fight erupts on a bus Rye is saved by a man called Obsidian, it’s your typical damsel in distress scenario. Rye was armed with a gun, yet she hesitated to defend herself with it. She feared the backlash she would receive and feared more fighting would ensue if a weapon was drawn. When she runs off of the bus and Obsidian calls her over she, “obeyed mainly out of curiosity”. A woman is her own person and should not have to obey anyone she does not want to. The fact that Rye obeyed someone, especially a male it shows how much control men have over women. Once the fight is resolved Rye notices that people treat Obsidian as a superior. He owns a car and a gun which are hard to come by in this world and he does not acknowledge people who are not on his level. “This was an attitude of superiority and that was the way people like the bus driver perceived it.” Although he did not ignore Rye she is still not his equal because she does not have a car and she was not able to play the role of being the hero and needed to be saved.

When Obsidian tells her to come with him the men around them automatically assume she was sleeping with Obsidian and made a crude joke about her having sex with all of them as well. Women are harassed every day and are put into uncomfortable situations. Rye did not know where or what Obsidian wanted with her, but if she has refused going with him she had risked the chance of being raped by the other group of men. Because of the way women are treated in society they are afraid to say no or to stand up for themselves because men can and will retaliate if they are rejected. “People might very well stand by and watch if he tried to rape her.”

Later on, while on her journey with Obsidian, Rye creates this fairytale in her head. She would settle for Obsidian and take him home and he would belong to her for a while. They would live together, and Rye would learn to love the man that Obsidian was, “Men like Obsidian were rare. Women either settled for less or stayed alone. If they found an Obsidian, they what they could to keep him.” Rye has been alone for so long now she is willing to do anything in her power to keep the person who is giving her relief from her longing, her hopelessness and to give her a purpose once again. She is willing to downgrade for him. Some women want a house white picket fence, a big yard and a dog. They want the lives they saw on television but in reality, they have to settle for less and try to make the best of whatever they are given. They’ll try to turn their nightmare into their fairy tale.

Ultimately, women are hidden in the shadows of men and rely greatly on them. Women have a hard time breaking away from men, but it is not impossible. It isn’t until the end of story that we see Rye finally find something worth living for, something to make her life meaningful again. Rye is able to defend herself when Obsidian is no longer present, and she is able to kill a man who was a threat to her. Now she is taking on the role similar to what Obsidian had. She is becoming a protector to those around her. “Obsidian had been the protector, had chosen that role for who knew what reason.” Rye finds her reason, it’s these defenseless children she founds and sees the future and hope in them and chooses to protect them with her life. Rye is showing that women can be their own savior and don’t need men for everything. She had been living 3 years on her own just barely getting by and being plagued by loneliness, but she managed somehow. Now that she has found out that she is capable of anything, she knows she can do it with or without a man.