Reproduction and pregnancy in speculative fiction

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Speculative and science fiction writers have often addressed the social, political, technological, and biological consequences of pregnancy and reproduction through the exploration of possible futures or alternative realities.

Themes

As real-world reproductive technology has advanced, SF works have become increasingly interested in representing alternative modes of reproduction.[1] Among the uses of pregnancy and reproduction themes regularly encountered in science fiction are:

The phenomenon of pregnancy itself has been the subject of numerous works, both directly and metaphorically. These works may relate pregnancy to parasitism or slavery, or simply use pregnancy as a strong contrast with horror. For example, in the film, Rosemary's Baby (1968) (based on the 1967 novel by Ira Levin) a woman is tricked into a satanic pregnancy by her husband.[4][5]

Alien–human hybrids

Inter-species reproduction and alien-human hybrids frequently occur in science fiction, and women being impregnated by aliens is a common theme in SF horror films, including I Married a Monster from Outer Space, Village of the Damned, Xtro, and Inseminoid.[1] The theme has even been parodied, such as in the soft porn Wham Bang! Thanks You Mister Spaceman.[1] They are sometimes used as metaphors for social anxieties about miscegenation or hybridization,[citation needed] and other times used to explore the boundaries of humanity.[citation needed]

In the film Alien Resurrection (1997), Ellen Ripley has been cloned to facilitate study of the alien queen embryo with which she was implanted[6][7][8] In Octavia E. Butler's Lilith's Brood trilogy (1987, 1988, 1989) alien and human females impregnated with the DNA of males by alien intermediary-sex individuals, in "fivesomes".[9][10]

Reproduction and technology

Further information: Assisted reproductive technology § Fictional representation

Speculative fiction in technology of reproduction may involve cloning and ectogenesis, i.e., artificial reproduction).[2][3]

The latter part of the 2000s decade has also seen an upswing of films and other fiction depicting emotional struggles of assisted reproductive technology in contemporary reality rather than being speculation.[11]

Large-scale infertility or population growth

Fertility and reproduction have been frequent sites for examination of concerns about the impact of the environment and reproduction on the future of humanity or civilization. For example,

P.D. James is just one of many works which have considered the implications of global infertility; Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison is one of many works which have examined the converse, the implications of massive human population surges. Numerous other works, such as Implosion, The First Century after Beatrice, Venus Plus X and More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
examine the future of humanity as it evolves, or particular breeding programs.

Politics and gender politics

Pregnancy and control of human reproduction have often been used as proxies for treating gender issues or broader themes of social control; works dealing with pregnancy and human reproduction have also been used to closely explore gender politics. For instance, "

mpreg genre.[14]

The genre of

Freeforall". These works have often been analyzed as explorations of contemporary political debates about reproduction and pregnancy.[15][16]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9780860919933
    .
  2. ^ a b Allman, John (Spring 1990). "Motherless Creation: Motifs in Science Fiction". North Dakota Quarterly. 58 (2). University of North Dakota: 124–132.
  3. ^
    doi:10.3828/extr.1988.29.3.197
    .
  4. JSTOR 1225505
    .
  5. S2CID 144061322
    .
  6. S2CID 146524270
    .
  7. ^ Ferreira, Aline (2002). "Artificial Wombs and Archaic Tombs: Angela Carter's The Passion of New Eve and the Alien Tetralogy". Femspec. 4 (1). Cleveland State University: 90–107.
  8. ISBN 9780860919933
    .
  9. JSTOR 41274076
    .
  10. doi:10.1080/09574049608578256
    .
  11. ^ Mastony, Colleen (June 21, 2009). "Heartache of infertility shared on stage, screen". Chicago Tribune.
  12. doi:10.3828/extr.1998.39.4.352
    .
  13. ^ Sawyer, Robert J. "2020 Vision: Male Pregnancy (rehearsal transcript)". sfwriter.com. Robert J. Sawyer.
  14. ISBN 9780786426409
    , Within fan fiction, a number of subgenres are well recognized....mpreg, where a man gets pregnant.
  15. ^ Spicer, Arwen (January 23, 2007). "Impossible, Yet Inevitable: Unintended Pregnancy in Farscape, Deep Space Nine, Star Wars, and The X-Files". Genre-Commentary.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  16. ISBN 9780847698356
    .

Further reading
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