Bloodchild | Would You Really Rather Die Than Bear My Young?: The Construction of Gender, Race, and Species in Octavia E. Butler’s Bloodchild
In the following excerpt, Helford examines
‘‘Bloodchild’’ in terms of Butler’s treatment of
issues of gender, race, and species.
Emphasis on the metaphoric impregnation of human males in ‘‘Bloodchild’’ makes the process of gynesis central to the story. In a 1986 article on Butler in Ms. magazine, Sherley Anne Williams reports that Butler ‘‘gleefully’’ describes ‘‘Bloodchild’’ as her ‘‘pregnant man story.’’ Williams interprets the story as an exploration of ‘‘the paradoxes of power and inequality,’’ as Butler portrays ‘‘the experience of a class who, like women throughout most of history, are valued chiefly for their reproductive capacities.’’ I’d add that...
[The entire page is 979 words long]
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