Gender Roles in Science Fiction

Paper Summary:

The paper explores how "The Left Hand of Darkness" questions what exactly gender is, and how "Frankenstein" examines why women are constantly placed in subservient roles. The paper also shows how "I, Robot" puts a woman in a position of power and examines why the self and the other can never truly get along. The paper illustrates how all three texts show that the genre of science fiction can be about much more than space travel and aliens, but can also be used to examine social issues that we have on here on earth.

From the Paper:

"The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula Le Guin, examines the differences between gender roles by eliminating them. Gently Ai is an explorer who travels from Earth to this other planet called Winter, with hopes of getting them to join an alliance between the planets. Upon his arrival there, Ai discovers that the inhabitants of this planet do not have a particular gender. In fact, mating only happens for a few days out of every month so gender is not necessary. What this does for Ai is cause him to begin to examine the real differences between the self and other. In his case, this is the differences between men and women on Earth, as visiting this planet gives him an entirely different perspective. At one point in the novel, Ai cannot even explain to Estraven, the inhabitant of Winter that he spends the most time with, what exactly a woman is."

More papers on Gender Roles in Science Fiction:

• Book Review # 102998 : "Anxiety of Futurism in Science Fiction Works"
• Analytical Essay # 130044 : "Gender Roles in Times of Crisis"
• Analytical Essay # 139186 : "Gender Roles in Farscape"

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