Sex and Gender in SF

I really enjoyed our discussion we had last week about sex and gender. I has never really thought about it before, but the two are very different. Sex being a biological status, male or female, aka what's between your legs. Gender, on the other hand, is a much deeper concept with a vast range of variations. Much more complex than whether you can give birth or not. The world we live in today, men are seen a certain way and women are seen another.  This image has changed drastically over thousands of years of human evolution. We get a sneak peak of how one author, Joanna Russ, thinks this will carry into the future in the story "When It Changed." On a distant planet, there is a human colony called Whileaway. This colony is an all female colony, that has discovered a way to procreate and sustain life without the presence of men. This basic concept gives way to a whole new meaning of the word gender. Sex, of course, we know is female. Their sex has not been altered at in any way. Gender however, in this future world, takes on a whole new meaning. Typically we view the role of women as giving birth, protecting, and raising their children. While men are viewed as the breadwinners, those who provide for the family and put a roof over their head. Men also take the lead role in society, generally holding the positions of authority and management. This all-female colony that we read about in this story fuses the two views of gender into one. Females take on both roles as providers and the care of children. A very interesting and unique concept that science fiction literature makes possible. Astronauts, who happen to be men,  from earth arrive on the planet and discover the colony. They are in utter disbelief that a colony could survive without men. To a man this concept is impossible to understand. This is because men have always been on top and in charge. Women, on the other hand, have done nothing but dream of a world where they are dominant. In this world, not only are they dominant, they are without competition. They rely only on themselves and their fellow woman. One has to ask, could a colony of only men survive?

Style

Style of writing is almost like DNA, it defines the writer and the piece they are creating. It helps shape the message they are attempting to deliver to the reader. Depending on the topic and genre, style plays a huge part in the art of telling a story.  I have chosen to write about a story we read earlier in the semester called Liar!. I found this to be a very interesting story about humans and machines, and their interaction amongst each other. The four main characters discover that a robot they have created has the ability to read minds. They must now discover the origin to this design flaw before it gets out to the public. The author chose a unique style to write this story. He uses several mini conversations among the different characters that eventually leads to their downfall. He intertwines the different characters and slowly reveals hidden conflicts that we did not see at the beginning of the story. One character is in love with the other. Another is bitter at a certain character for holding onto a post that he wishes to obtain. These seemingly subtle conflicts, along with some well written dialogue, lead to the humans turning against each other at the hand of their own creation, the robot.  This style of writing does a great deal of justice to the story and the message the author is attempting to convey. He divides the characters and their problems and as they build upon each other, we see that there will have to be an epic climax. The climax surely comes about when the characters reunite and confront their creation. I really enjoyed the story, but especially how it was written. I think the same story could have gone a different direction, but in no way delivered as powerful of a message. I honestly believed that the style of story telling that the author chose to use gave us a great piece to read, and some useful lessons to learn about ourselves.