Creation and Procreation. . . - Science Fiction Research Association

SFRA 2010 Round Table Discussion:
Teaching Tales from the Trenches and Practical Suggestions
Susan A. George’s Contribution: Reproductive Technology in Science and Science Fiction
Texts Used: Many of these texts were in a course reader or available through electronic reserve to
save students some expense.
Butler, Octavia. “Bloodchild.” Women of Wonder: The Comtemporary Year of Science
Fiction by Women, 1970s-1990s. Ed. Pamela Sargent. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1995. 123-
139
Davis, Angela. “Outcast Mothers and Surrogates: Racism and Reproductive Politics in
the Nineties.” American Feminist Thought at Century’s End: A Reader. Ed.
Linda S. Kauffman. Cambridge: Blackwell, 1993. 355-366
George, Susan A. “Not Exactly ‘of Woman Born’: Procreation and Creation in Recent
Science Fiction Films.” Journal of Popular Film & Television. 28: 4 (Winter
2001). 176-183.
Grant, Barry Keith ed. The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film. Austin: U of Texas P,
1996.
Kress, Nancy. “Sex Education.” Beaker’s Dozen. New York: Tor, 1998. 209-226.
---. “Margin of Error.” Beaker’s Dozen. New York: Tor, 1998. 109-116.
---. “Beggars in Spain. Beaker’s Dozen. New York: Tor, 1998. PAGES
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein—A Norton Critical Edition, Ed J. Paul Hunter. NY: Norton, 1996.
Philip K. Dick, The Phillip K. Dick Reader. NY: Citadel Press, 1987.
Kaplan, Ann E and Susan Squier Playing Dolly: Technocultural Formations, Fantasies,
and Fictions as Assisted Reproduction. Ed.. New Jersey: Routledge UP, 1999.
Raymond, Janice. “Women as Wombs.” MS. 1:6 (May/June 1991): 28-33.
Sobchack, Vivian. “The Virginity of Astronauts: Sex and the Science Fiction Film.”
Alien Zone. Ed Annette Kuhn. New York: Verso, 1990. 103-15.
Creation and Procreation. . .
Note: If it is a class specifically on SF/F/H then I start with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. If, however, it
is a more general class, then I begin with the section below (i.e. staring with Raymond, Butler, Kress,
etc.)
just getting started . . .
Readings: PDK, “The Father Thing” and “The Crawlers”
It Begins . . . (listed in the order I used them in class)
Norton Critical Edition Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
• George Levine, “Frankenstein and the Tradition of Realism”
• Ellen Moers, “Female Gothic: The Monster’s Mother”
• Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, “Mary Shelley’s Monstrous Eve”
• Gayatri Spivak, “Frankenstein and a Critique of Imperialism
Alternative Essays
• William Veeder, “The Women of Frankenstein”
• Susan Winnett, “Coming Unstrung: Women, Men, Narrative, and Principles of Pleasure”
And the Bride . . .
Dread of Difference:
• Rhona J. Bernstein, “’It Will Thrill You, It May Shock You, It May Even Horrify You’: Gender,
Reception, and Classic Horror Cinema”
• Elizabeth Young, “Here Comes the Bride: Wedding Gender and Race in Bride of Frankenstein”

o Note/Request: I’m looking for stronger essays on this film. If any one has any
suggestions please let me know at sageorge13@sbcglobal.net or by posting the
information to the SFRA website in the resources section.
• Screening: Bride of Frankenstein (1935, James Whale, 75 m, U.S.)
• Recommended Outside Screening: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994, Kenneth Branagh,
123m, U.S.)
More SF Regarding Creation vs. Procreation
Readings:
• Janice Raymond, “Women as Wombs”
o Note/Request: I’m looking for a newer more up to date essay that deals with the various
types of procedures, cost, and success and failure rates. If any one has any suggestions
please let me know at sageorge13@sbcglobal.net or by posting the information to the
SFRA website in the resources section.
• Octavia Butler, “Bloodchild”
o I sometimes start with this because it always gets discussion going though some students
do find it disturbing and/or disgusting. Sometimes we read it out loud in class—that is
always fun!
• Angela Davis, “Outcast Mothers and Surrogates: Racism and Reproductive Politics in the
Nineties”
• Nancy Kress, “Sex Education” and “Margin of Error”
• Vivian Sobchack, “The Virginity of Astronauts: Sex and the Science Fiction Film.”
o Note: I get mixed reactions to this essay from students. It is a bit difficult for some
freshman especially.
• Screening: GATTACA (1997, Andrew Niccol, 106 m, U.S.)
• Susan A. George, “Not Exactly “of Woman Born’: Procreation and Creation in Recent Science
Fiction Films”
o Note: students won’t tell me what they really think about this essay of course! However,
it is less theoretical or scientific than the Sobchack and Kirby)
• David Kirby, “New Eugenics in Cinema: Genetic Determinism and Gene Therapy In GATTACA”
o This one gets a bit technical as it covers the science aspect and ethnography so like the
Sobchack you have to spend sometime discussing this with freshman students especially.
• Recommended Outside Screening: Species (1995) and/or Mimic (1995)
Readings from Playing Dolly:
o I added this section while at UC Berkeley because Charis Thompson Cussins was
a professor there. I found the story interesting and like “Bloodchild” it garnered a
strong reaction from the students. The story involves a researcher who implants
herself with an embryo from her labs “frozen zoo.”
• Charis Thompson Cussins, “Confessions of a Bioterrorist: Subject Position and
Reproductive Technologies”
• Gabriele Schwab, “Steps Toward a Millennial Imaginary . . .”
• Richard Nash, “Immaculate Mothers and Celibate Fathers . . .”
Assignments Related to the Readings
Class Exercise for Janice Raymond essay. Note: Because Raymond’s essay is a bit dated now this exercise
brings in newer data and gets students familiar with research and checking the reliability/agendas of
sources. I have done this at least two times and some students use materials from fertility clinics and

other go straight to the CDC. This allows for comparing and contrasting data and reliability of sources
fairly easy and interesting. Assignment: By either going on-line or to the library, find more recent
statistics regarding the success rates of the procedures discussed in Raymond’s essay or new
procedures now being done. Bring the article (make sure you have the citation) or hard copy of
the on-line information (make sure you have the website address and who sponsors it).
Essay Exam Question for Bloodchild: What does this story add to our discussion of reproductive
technology? How does it center and/or disrupt the issues of gender and reproductive technology? How
does it comment on the history of race and reproduction rights in the U.S? Is it a feminist story? Why are
why not? Directly quote at least 2 course essays (not stories, one assigned after the midterm) and use
detailed examples from the story to support your argument.
Paper Assignments #1: While in the Diagnostic you responded, summarized, and critiqued an essay by
a single author (though referring back to the novel in most cases) and a specific prompt, in this
assignment you are asked to give your personal response to the ideas and issues in more than one work
from the list below. Though you will be writing about your own reaction, understanding or confusion
regarding the readings, you are expected to respond critically to the essays or short stories as we do in
class, but in more depth. This paper provides the opportunity for you to think critically about and make
connections between your ideas and ideologies, the course readings, and the topics they address, in this
case procreation and reproductive technologies. Some of the goals of this assignment are to help you
connect, review, and question your own world view in relation to the issues raised, acquire tools for
supporting and developing ideas in papers, and distinguishing between the general and specific as you
structure your arguments/papers.
While this is a place to bring in your own experiences and ideas it is not to become a forum for personal
views, stories and beliefs alone, you must refer and engage directly with the specific course readings
making the connections between your experiences and thoughts and the readings clear. The paper should
not simply summarize and describe the readings, but should analyze them placing them in relation to the
larger political and social landscape.
The following are some basic criteria for “successful” completion of Paper #1:
The paper should demonstrate knowledge of the assigned readings
The paper should connect readings, and, if you wish, lecture, films, readings from other
classes, etc., to personal experiences, thoughts, feelings, and/or opinions
The paper must be 4-5-pages. As with all work submitted, it must be stapled, doublespaced,
and typed, and must have at least one inch margins and standard, 12-point font
Times New Roman or Arial preferred. Use page numbers. Remove right justify. If the
paper fails to meet the require 4-5 pages in requested format, it will be returned, must be
rewritten to meet the requirement, will be due the next class meeting, and will receive 1/3
of a grade penalty.
Readings: Do not try to discuss all the readings listed. There are too many for a paper this length—I
would suggest discussing no more than three. However, you must address at least 2 of them directly and
effectively in your paper.
Octavia Butler, “Bloodchild.”
Nancy Kress, “Sex Education,” and/or “Margin of Error.”
Janice Raymond, “Women as Wombs,”
Angela Davis, “Outcast Mothers and Surrogates: Racism and Reproductive Politics in the
Nineties, ”
Vivian Sobchack, “The Virginity of Astronauts: Sex and the Science Fiction Film.”

Paper Assignments #2: In this essay you will combine your skill in observation and analysis in order
to develop a strong argumentative thesis about a specific issue or idea by synthesizing two arguments.
The purpose of this paper is not simply to tell the reader how the arguments or concerns of each writer are
the same or different. You must make the two texts talk to each other. In other words, while the authors
may be writing in different historical times, from different subject positions, and with different agendas,
you will find and examine the links between the works—how the views, ideologies and/or concerns of
one author or text respond to the views, ideologies and/or concerns of the other author or text. As in
Paper #1, you will need to carefully summarize the points of each author’s piece that are relevant to your
analysis. Think about each writer’s purpose, use of examples, and tone as you evaluate how one would
respond to the other. Consider what one can learn from looking at these two texts together. How might
one author’s work help us to understand the other author’s perspective? How does the
comparison/contrast of the two works demonstrate particular changes or stases over the course of history?
Use passages (evidence) from both texts to support your discussion. Choose one of the pairings below:
1. In our class discussion of “Confessions of a Bioterrorist,” several people noted the similarities or
links between Thompson’s short story and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Using this as a starting
point, write an essay that builds on this idea. You do not have to answer these specific questions
in your essay. They are just suggestions, questions you may want to ask of yourself and of the
works: How do they frame technology? How are the protagonists alike and how are they
different (beside the obvious gender difference)? In what ways, if at all, do you think Thompson’s
work is influence by Shelley’s. How different would Shelley’s novel be in the face of new
technological advances in reproductive technology?
2. (For those with a background in feminist studies and theory) I have often thought, as we
discussed in class, that Octavia Butler’s “Bloodchild” is a feminist work, however, I’m not as
certain this can be said of Nancy Kress’s work. While we have talked to some extent about “Sex
Education,” we have said little about “Margin of Error.” In this essay you need to do two things.
First, compare, contrast, and analyze what the works say about reproduction and cultural
ideologies about it and about gender roles. Second, look at how each work either succeeds or
fails as a “feminist” work. Would you call one or the other or both “feminist” works? Questions
to think about, but don’t need to specifically answer as noted above: How do the various
characters think or see reproduction or pregnancy? How are the texts similar in the way they take
into account the effects of technology and/or pregnancy on the body? Does this in and of itself
make them both “feminist”?
3. For this option we go back to one of the first stories we read for this class, Philip K. Dick’s “The
Father-Thing” focusing on the way it differs from or is the same as the more recent stories we
have read. Choosing either “Bloodchild,” “Sex Education,” or “Margin of Error” (only one
please) compare and contrast what they say about and how represent reproduction. Can the
differences in the stories be strictly explained by the different historical periods? By the different
genders of the authors? Why or why not? What do you see as the most significant difference
between “The Father-Thing” and the other story you have selected? Why do you feel this is
significant?