Rand wrote in an America that still upheld a strict glass ceiling for women in the workplace. Women simply could not get the best jobs in the 1930's. Lowry, however, saw women climb the ladder of success. In the 1990's, women held more executive and upper-rank positions than ever. .
In addition to placing the emphasis on the group over the man, in these dystopian societies, man has no freedom or personal choice. No person could maintain or even become aware of self-identity. In Anthem, instead of names or even first person singular pronouns, the people referred to themselves as cereal numbers in the first person plural. "We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, one, indivisible and forever."" In Rand's work, men are referred to in groups, such as Equality 7-2521, International 4-8818, and Union 5-3992. Each of these "groups- stands for a singular person. Likewise, in The Giver, the young children are the "Group of Ones- or the "Group of Sevens."" And though the characters in The Giver have names, their names are recycled. Every time a citizen dies in their world, a new infant is named for them; there are no new, unique names. .
Besides names, love and sex are not allowed in these worlds. They are no longer basic needs for mankind. Sexual activity is allowed only in the City Palace of Mating in Anthem, when the elders designate necessary reproduction. Even in that situation, law tells the We who they will have sex with and when. In The Giver, sex is similarly repressed. Women conceive in a place of breeding, where male and female units mate under highly regulated conditions. Then, they must forfeit their child to the collective, which distributes it to an appropriate home at the Ceremony of Naming. In Anthem, Equality 7-2521 falls in love with Liberty 5-3000, the Golden One. They feel pangs of emotion for each other for which they have no words.
