Gender In Butler's Bloodchild

“Bloodchild” also addresses many issues on the subject of gender, but in a more complex and interpretative way. Within the Butler’s alien world there is no indication of a third gender nor is there any signs of gender change. However, the complication exists since there are two species, the Tlic and Terran. Each species has their own males and females, in addition, the Tlic represent a race more masculine than the Terran. Furthermore, the relationship between Tlic and the Terran has many similarities to male and female interaction in the 1900s-2000s. Firstly, the Terran, for the most part, stay within the confines of the Preserve. Terran do not venture from the Preserve since the alien world poses many threats to their wellbeing (77). Although …show more content…
Likewise, in Saudi Arabia, women are not permitted to drive vehicles. However, since women and men are both physically capable of driving, why then does this law stand? An article by Olga Khazan states that according to the Wahhabism Muslim there must be segregation of the sexes. Whether or not this is justifiable is a different topic, but there are simple and less limiting ways to segregate the sexes. In both “Bloodchild” and our world there are laws for driving that segregate the one group from another, and in our case, there is less justification. The Terran confinement to the Preserve and the law restricting Terrans from driving reflects the issues of women outside the home and women driving in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the Tlic-Terran interspecies issues are comparable to the gender issues of the real world. The following final argument will further devlop that “Bloodchild” shows the flexibility of each gender’s role based on the first idea that the alien world and our own are similar and the second argument of the Tlic-Terran and male-female