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🦋 Examining Sexuality in Science Fiction: What Does it Say About Us?
by Jen Digby
The cold, detached, and regimental ritual-making in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale; the soma-induced ecstasy of promiscuity in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World; the whimsical true love of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four before torture turned something beautiful into something untouchable – science fiction presents a variety of scopes and perspectives on utopias and dystopias, often blurring the lines between the two in an experiment of “what could happen†to us. Censorship, the irony of controlled freedom, the forbidden nature of old works of art which once forged a national heritage and the suppression of free media where self-publishing empowers and inspires – these are all aspects of another world which is much closer to our own than we realize. But the way in which some science fiction texts present different realms of life disclose revealing insights on the ideology which surrounds them in present-day society – and sexuality is one of them.
Religious Totalitarianism
In Margaret Atwood’s futuristic tale of a woman who recounts her experiences as a handmaid working under a rigid, fanatical society, sexuality is a part of life which is both sacred and profane. Sex becomes a coveted ritual to be performed between masters and handmaids under the watchful eyes of wives for the purposes of procreation only – all intimacy is restricted. Atwood argues that the very title of this work in speculative fiction (the award-winning writer is reluctant to file it under what she considers the reductive term of “science fictionâ€) has “become a shorthand for repressive regimes against women.†While she explores various power struggles and politics between nations in this ultra-religious state – running through several “what ifsâ€, Atwood also discusses Puritanism and the construct of Christian societies, as well as ideas of feminism. Within this society, sex is used as a device of control – not only because of the “falleness†and sinful nature of the act by Biblical standards which forbids pleasure, but because it places a once personal, private act into the institutions of the ruling power. One could argue that this is a “could happen†scenario whose roots are still found today in various modern issues surrounding sexuality, not only concerning religion but secular laws and parts of the pro-life movement which stress that a woman’s body is not her own with campaigners still having to stand ground for allowing women to make their own decisions.
A Free World – but Only on the Surface
Like The Handmaid’s Tale, Huxley’s Brave New World also invites the government into the bedroom to some degree by completely taking away the ability to procreate naturally, instead creating different classes of human beings (a scientific version of the caste system) via test tubes. Yet this is utopia, and sexual promiscuity is promoted to the extreme. With birth control and a healthy society, the old plights of promiscuity which left their scourge on history are things of the past – only recounted as propaganda to reassure the public that this world is the better world, and reinforce the “us vs them†sentiment against the people who live out in the Reservations who live like “savagesâ€. While the risks of sex have been eliminated, critics often compare topical issues like “Planned Parenthood†to Brave New World in the most extreme cases. Huxley’s idea of “paradise engineering†and creating a utopia which, incidentally, may seem full of flaws to a contemporary audience potentially warn of such a future where controlled freedom – under the guise of superficial, instantaneous and risk-free satisfaction – detaches us from our values and our emotional commitments to one another. Sexuality is completely segregated from child birth (eugenics), becoming an indulgence which works as a drug to “tame†the general population under the pretence of so-called happiness and liberty. While some of the gender roles are removed here, arguably creating a more level playing field for women, male and female alike are caught in the illusion.
Hope and Discord
Yet there are other portrayals of sexuality – while Nineteen Eighty-Four certainly examines sex as yet another controlled act, the story of Winston and Julia presents another insight. Their sexuality is awakened by acting out the forbidden, reflective of fetish culture in contemporary society where the thought of enacting something not allowed – at the risk of being caught – can be arousing. The initial lust between the lovers turns into love, which does not conquer all – but the brief moments of sex for pleasure adds meaning to their lives, just as much as the adventure to meet discreetly. Unlike Frank Herbert’s Dune which examines sexuality in a completely twisted way, associating it with abuse, slavery, and excess, sexuality in the Orwellian classic touches succinctly on several layers. Sex for pleasure – an act of political rebellion – leaves the reader with hope initially, because emotional freedom and empowerment occurs, and a return to the triumphant human self as well as the sense that it cannot be repressed forever.
Science fiction has played with these ideas for generations – whether it’s the monstrous energy of the Demon in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – the ultimate potent being whose violence could be attributed to repression as well as ostracism – or the pop culture space operas of pin-up girls on wild planet colonies. Yet even in one’s idea of paradise, there is a fear – and a conscious commentary of what sexuality means to a society in both present and distant times.
posted afternoon of Saturday, September 27th, 2014
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