Sex and Gender in Sociology

The development of the modern science fiction is accompanied by the development of new concepts and ideas. In this respect, the abundance of cyborgs in modern science fiction is particularly noteworthy in the context of the gender-related issues. The chapter discusses the presentation of cyborgs in the modern science fiction in the socio-cultural and political context. At this point, the author lays emphasis on the gender issues raised by the depiction of cyborgs in modern science fiction. The author argues that cyborgs mirror the current view on gender and future prospects. The key point of the chapter is the new view on gender which is conveyed through the image of cyborgs, as the image of a creature in the post-gender world.

In fact, the author makes a significant contribution in the development of modern views on gender and future prospects of gender relationships. It is obvious that gender roles have started to change and boundaries between sexes tend to disappear. In this regard, cyborgs depicted in science fiction are really noteworthy objects of a new view on gender.

However, the view of the author on gender and the role of cyborgs as markers of new views on gender and gender relationships is quite controversial. On the one hand, it is obvious that cyborgs can have certain message related to gender, which science fiction conveys to the audience. On the other hand, cyborgs are purely imaginary creatures, which have little in common with the real life and their gender relatedness is as fictional as cyborgs themselves.

In such a way, the basic idea of the chapter is not convincing because the author fails to substantiate the argument with evidences from the real world, instead, he focuses entirely on cyborgs as the main subjects of the research.

Questions:

To what extent are science fiction works reliable sources for analysis of gender relations?

What is the impact of the cultural traditions and set values on gender related issues discussed in science fiction works?