The negative representation of women in Breakfast of Champions Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions was written, as he says in the opening pages, "to clear my head of all the rubbish that 'is inside. . . The things that others have put in my head, however, do not go well together, they are often useless and ugly' (5). Although Vonnegut wrote this book more than twenty years after Simone de Beauvoir expressed her assessment of women's place in the world, his fierce social criticism shows that the position of women has not changed much, that they are still the “Other ” compared to men. An imperfect society helps create this situation, but Vonnegut demonstrates that misplaced priorities, foolish behavior, and superficial ways of thinking lead to negative ends for women. In the descriptions of Patty Keene, Francine Pefko, Mary Alice Miller, and Beatrice Keedsler, it becomes apparent that Vonnegut intends to show not only female subservience to males, but also to show how weaknesses in current thinking result in negative events. .In describing the character of Patty Keene, Vonnegut also comments on the general condition of women and the fact that very few seem to think for themselves. He says that Patty is "stupid on purpose, as was the case with most women in Midland City. All the women had big minds because they were big animals, but they didn't use them much for that reason: unusual ideas could make enemies, and women, if they wanted to get any sort of comfort and security, needed all the friends they could find" (136). Vonnegut then criticizes women for becoming "agreeing machines instead of thinking machines", since many form their opinions simply by finding out "what other people thought, and then they thought... in the middle of the paper... age, around the 1973. In portraying the materialist Patty Keene, the submissive Francine Pefko, the dominated Mary Alice Miller, and the frivolous Beatrice Keedsler, Vonnegut suggests that women are not totally responsible for their behavior and weak ideas, rather that they are the product of a 'imperfection society in which women must submit to men. However, whatever the cause of the imperfect ways of thinking, the results are generally negative, especially for the women involved. "What the woman's situation signals in a peculiar way is that She he is a free and autonomous person. being like all other human creatures--yet she finds herself living in a world where men force her to assume the status of 'Other'"--Simone de Beauvoir, Introduction to the Second Sex, Knopf, XXXV.Works Cited: Vonnegut, Kurt. Breakfast of Champions. New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1973.