Does Science Fiction support or subvert patriarchy
Does Science Fiction support or subvert patriarchy (or neither or both)?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, patriarchy is the ‘predominance of men in positions of power and influences in society, with cultural values and norms being seen as favouring men.’1 This essay will discuss patriarchy and science fiction’s treatment of it. This will be done by examining the treatment of gender and sexuality in science fiction texts such as Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness and Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War. Brian Attlebury states that ‘science fiction is a useful tool for investigating habits of thought, including conceptions of gender. Gender, In turn, offers an interesting glimpse into some of the unacknowledged messages that permeate science fiction,’2 In other words, due to the nature of science fiction and its ability to remove conventional boundaries allows further exploration in to conceptions of gender and the ideas surrounding it. Gender itself is; ‘social expectations about behaviour regarded as appropriate for the members of each sex,’ science fiction allows for new and different societies thus allowing for different social expectations of gender. A single definition of science fiction is difficult to pin down, Attebury suggests that, ‘storytelling is a way of thinking about things, and science fiction is a form of storytelling that invites us to challenge standard notions of nature and culture.’3 Therefore agreeing with the idea that, science fiction allows traditional notions of both gender and sexuality to be challenged. The Oxford English Dictionary says that, ‘sexuality is biological; it is the quality of being sexual or possessing sex,’4 it also offers a further explanation stating that it is ‘sexual nature, instinct or feelings; the possession or expression of these,’5 when accepting these definitions as true it is safe to say that gender is purely a social idea whereas sex and sexuality is innate. What is significant here are the
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, patriarchy is the ‘predominance of men in positions of power and influences in society, with cultural values and norms being seen as favouring men.’1 This essay will discuss patriarchy and science fiction’s treatment of it. This will be done by examining the treatment of gender and sexuality in science fiction texts such as Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness and Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War. Brian Attlebury states that ‘science fiction is a useful tool for investigating habits of thought, including conceptions of gender. Gender, In turn, offers an interesting glimpse into some of the unacknowledged messages that permeate science fiction,’2 In other words, due to the nature of science fiction and its ability to remove conventional boundaries allows further exploration in to conceptions of gender and the ideas surrounding it. Gender itself is; ‘social expectations about behaviour regarded as appropriate for the members of each sex,’ science fiction allows for new and different societies thus allowing for different social expectations of gender. A single definition of science fiction is difficult to pin down, Attebury suggests that, ‘storytelling is a way of thinking about things, and science fiction is a form of storytelling that invites us to challenge standard notions of nature and culture.’3 Therefore agreeing with the idea that, science fiction allows traditional notions of both gender and sexuality to be challenged. The Oxford English Dictionary says that, ‘sexuality is biological; it is the quality of being sexual or possessing sex,’4 it also offers a further explanation stating that it is ‘sexual nature, instinct or feelings; the possession or expression of these,’5 when accepting these definitions as true it is safe to say that gender is purely a social idea whereas sex and sexuality is innate. What is significant here are the