Pregnancy in science fiction
Encyclopedia
Because speculative genres
explore variants of reproduction, as well as possible futures, SF writers have often explored the social, political, technological, and biological consequences of pregnancy and reproduction.
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.
or hybridization, and other times used to explore the boundaries of humanity.
In Alien Resurrection, the 1997 film, Ellen Ripley
has been cloned to facilitate study of the alien queen embryo with which she was implanted In Octavia E. Butler
's Xenogenesis
trilogy (1987, 1988, 1989) alien and human females impregnated by alien intermediary-sex individuals with the DNA of males, in "fivesomes".
and ectogenesis
, i.e., artificial reproduction
).
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.
by 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 Venus Plus X
and More Than Human
by Theodore Sturgeon
examine the future of humanity as it evolves, or particular breeding programs.
" has been used to comedic effect in mainstream literature and films such as Junior
(1994 film, dir. Ivan Reitman), and has developed a following in fan fiction
— the "m-preg" genre.
The genre of feminist science fiction
has explored single-sex reproduction in depth, particularly parthenogenesis
, as well as gendered control over the ability and right to reproduce. See also numerous dystopia
n stories about state-controlled reproduction, abortion, and birth control, such as Atwood
's The Handmaid's Tale
, or her short story, "Freeforall
". These works have often been analyzed as explorations of contemporary political debates about reproduction and pregnancy.
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
explore variants of reproduction, as well as possible futures, SF writers have often explored the social, political, technological, and biological consequences of pregnancy and reproduction.
Themes
As real-world reproductive technology has advanced, SF works have become increasingly interested in representing alternative modes of reproduction. Among the uses of pregnancy and reproduction themes regularly encountered in science fiction are:- Other modes of sexual reproduction;
- Parthenogenetic reproduction;
- inter-species reproduction;
- the use of technology in reproduction ;;
- gender issues and political concerns around reproduction;
- Large-scale infertility;
- horror themes relating to parasitismParasitismParasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
and slaverySlaverySlavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. - Gender politics.
The phenomenon of pregnancy itself has been the subject of numerous works, both directly and metaphorically. These works may relate pregnancy to parasitism
Parasitism
Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
or slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, or simply use pregnancy as a strong contrast with horror. For example, in the film, Rosemary's Baby
Rosemary's Baby (film)
Rosemary's Baby is a 1968 American horror film written and directed by Roman Polanski, based on the bestselling 1967 novel Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin...
(1968) (based on the 1967 novel
Rosemary's Baby
Rosemary's Baby is a 1967 best-selling horror novel by Ira Levin, his second published book. Major elements of the story were inspired by the publicity surrounding the Church of Satan of Anton LaVey which had been founded in 1966.-Plot summary:...
by Ira Levin
Ira Levin
Ira Levin was an American author, dramatist and songwriter.-Professional life:Levin attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa...
) a woman is tricked into a satanic pregnancy by her husband.
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. The theme has even been parodied, such as in the soft porn Wham Bang! Thanks You Mister Spaceman. They are sometimes used as metaphors for social anxieties about miscegenationMiscegenation
Miscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, and procreation....
or hybridization, and other times used to explore the boundaries of humanity.
In Alien Resurrection, the 1997 film, Ellen Ripley
Ellen Ripley
Ellen Ripley is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Alien film series played by American actress Sigourney Weaver. The character was heralded as a seminal role for challenging gender roles, particularly in the science fiction genre, and remains Weaver's most famous role to...
has been cloned to facilitate study of the alien queen embryo with which she was implanted In Octavia E. Butler
Octavia E. Butler
Octavia Estelle Butler was an American science fiction writer, one of the best-known among the few African-American women in the field. She won both Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant.- Background :Butler...
's Xenogenesis
Xenogenesis
Lilith's Brood is a collection of three works by Octavia Butler. The three volumes of this science fiction series were previously collected in the now out of print volume, Xenogenesis...
trilogy (1987, 1988, 1989) alien and human females impregnated by alien intermediary-sex individuals with the DNA of males, in "fivesomes".
Reproduction and technology
Speculative fiction in technology of reproduction may involve cloningCloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
and ectogenesis
Ectogenesis
Ectogenesis is the growth of an organism in an artificial environment outside the body in which it would normally be found, such as the growth of an embryo or fetus outside the mother's body, or the growth of bacteria outside the body of a host.-Human embryos and fetuses:Ectogenesis of human...
, i.e., artificial reproduction
Artificial reproduction
Artificial reproduction is the creation of new life by other than the natural means available to an organism. Examples include artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, cloning and embryonic splitting, or cleavage....
).
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.
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, The Children of MenThe Children of Men
The Children of Men is a dystopian novel by P. D. James that was published in 1992. Set in England in 2021, it centres on the results of mass infertility...
by P.D. James is just one of many works which have considered the implications of global infertility
Infertility
Infertility primarily refers to the biological inability of a person to contribute to conception. Infertility may also refer to the state of a woman who is unable to carry a pregnancy to full term...
; Make Room! Make Room!
Make Room! Make Room!
Make Room! Make Room! is a 1966 science fiction novel written by Harry Harrison exploring the consequences of unchecked population growth on society. The novel was the basis of the 1973 science fiction movie Soylent Green, although the movie changed much of the plot and theme, and introduced...
by Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
is one of many works which have examined the converse, the implications of massive human population surges. Numerous other works, such as Venus Plus X
Venus Plus X
Venus Plus X is a science fiction novel written by Theodore Sturgeon, published in 1960. David Pringle included it in his book Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels....
and More Than Human
More Than Human
More Than Human is a 1953 science fiction novel by Theodore Sturgeon. It is a fix-up of his previously published novella Baby is Three with two parts written especially for the novel....
by Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon was an American science fiction author.His most famous novel is More Than Human .-Biography:...
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, "male pregnancyMale pregnancy
Male pregnancy refers to the incubation of one or more embryos or fetuses by male members of any species. In nearly all heterogamous animal species, offspring are ordinarily carried by the female until birth, but in fish of the Syngnathidae family , males perform this function...
" has been used to comedic effect in mainstream literature and films such as Junior
Junior (film)
Junior is a 1994 American comedy film written by Kevin Wade and Chris Conrad and directed by Ivan Reitman. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a scientist who undergoes a male pregnancy as part of a scientific experiment.-Plot:...
(1994 film, dir. Ivan Reitman), and has developed a following in fan fiction
Fan fiction
Fan fiction is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator...
— the "m-preg" genre.
The genre of feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction which tends to deal with women's roles in society. Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the unequal political and...
has explored single-sex reproduction in depth, particularly parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction found in females, where growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization by a male...
, as well as gendered control over the ability and right to reproduce. See also numerous dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
n stories about state-controlled reproduction, abortion, and birth control, such as Atwood
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
's The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel, a work of science fiction or speculative fiction, written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1985...
, or her short story, "Freeforall
Freeforall (short story)
"Freeforall" is a 1986 short story by Margaret Atwood.-Summary:The story is set in the near future, a time of widespread and rampant sexually transmitted disease, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It describes a dystopian society with extremely limited freedoms tightly regulated by a totalitarian state...
". These works have often been analyzed as explorations of contemporary political debates about reproduction and pregnancy.
See also
- Sex and sexuality in speculative fiction
- Gender in speculative fiction
- Homosexuality in speculative fiction
- Cyborg feminism
- Parthenogenic reproduction
- Interspecies reproduction
Further reading
- John Allman, "Motherless Creation: Motifs in Science Fiction", North Dakota Quarterly, v.58, n.2, pp. 124–132 (Spring 1990).
- Marleen BarrMarleen BarrMarleen Barr teaches communication and media studies at Fordham University, New York City. She is notable for her significant contributions to science fiction studies, for which she won a Pilgrim Award from the Science Fiction Research Association in 1997...
, "Blurred Generic Conventions: Pregnancy and Power in Feminist Science Fiction", Reproductive and Genetic Engineering, v.1, n.2, pp. 167–174 (1988). - Jes Battis, Investigating Farscape: Uncharted Territories of Sex and Science Fiction (chapter on pregnancies)
- Valerie Broege, "Views on Human Reproduction and Technology in Science Fiction", Extrapolation, v. 29, n.3, pp. 197–215 (Fall 1988).
- Carol Clover, Men, Women, and ChainsawsMen, Women, and ChainsawsMen, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film is a 1992 book by American academic Carol J. Clover. In it she investigates the appeal of horror cinema, in particular the slasher, occult, and rape-revenge genres, from a feminist perspective...
: Gender in the Modern Horror Film (1992). - Jane Donawerth, "Illicit Reproduction: Clare Winger Harris's The Fate of the Poseidonia in Daughters of Earth, ed., Justine Larbalestier (2006), pp. 20–35.
- Carol Duncan, "Black Women and Motherhood in Contemporary Cinematic Science Fiction", in Andrea O'Reilly, ed., Mother Matters: Motherhood as Discourse and Practice (2005), pp. 79–86.
- Maria Aline Salgueiro Seabra Ferreira, I Am the Other: Literary Negotiations of Human Cloning (2005), including discussion of male pregnancyMale pregnancyMale pregnancy refers to the incubation of one or more embryos or fetuses by male members of any species. In nearly all heterogamous animal species, offspring are ordinarily carried by the female until birth, but in fish of the Syngnathidae family , males perform this function...
, sexual politics, and parthenogenesisParthenogenesisParthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction found in females, where growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization by a male... - Dominick Grace, "Frankenstein, Motherhood, and Phyllis Gotlieb's O Master Caliban!" Extrapolation, v.46, n.1, pp. 90–102 (Spring 2005).
- Zoë Sophia, "Exterminating Fetuses: Abortion, Disarmament, and the Sexo-semiotics of Extraterrestrialism" Diacritics, v. 14, n. 2, pp. 47–59 (Summer, 1984)