Gender Roles

     Ayn Rand puts a heavy emphasis on gender roles in business. The early stereotype that a man is better than woman at any task is clearly present in Chapter III: The Top And The Bottom. Dagny Taggart, since the age of nine, pushed herself to prove that stereotype wrong.  She constantly competed to be the top student in science, math, and engineering. At the age of 16 Dagny started to work at the company while taking classes at the school of engineering. Jim Taggart started at the Taggart Transcontinental at the age of twenty-one with a high ranking to his name where Dagny had no title to her because she was a woman. Even though Dagny continued to move up within the company and outcompete the men, she still did not receive an official title. The board of directors made no effort to explain any of the company ideas with her and she always “felt a strange evasiveness in the air of the room, in every speech, in every argument, as if the real reason for their decision were never stated, but clear to everyone except her.” (pg. 57)

            I believe Rand chose to make Dagny a key character in Atlas Shrugged to prove that whatever man can do, women can do it better. A prime example of that is when Dagny is presented with the title as Vice-President in Charge of Operation. She quickly found a contractor that set up the San Sebastán Line within a year.  The Taggart Transcontinental started to rise once again as Dangy started to call the shots and become more involved in the business.