the role of gender in the misuse of science

Question 1

what are the main topic sentences for this topic?

Answer 1

1. ) The effect of science on the distribution of power between genders
2. ) the warped/ perverse depiction of the reproductive process and the female role in reproduction because of science
3. ) the stratification of typical ‘male’ and ‘female’ concerns in relation to science

Question 2

what are the quotes/points for topic 1

Answer 2

topic 1 = the unequal distribution of power in relation to gender because of science

• Frankenstein is a male scientist acting alone, who creates new life solely in the male form, which is allegorical of the wider way in which the novel is male-centric= 3 male narrators, takes place in a patriarchal 19th century society, the narrative is governed by the actions of the male characters (versus the passivity of the female characters)
• Shelley was a woman, was perhaps influenced by her mother Mary Wollstonecraft who can be said to be one of the foremost feminists, called for female equality in ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman’
• THT: Women are subjugated and oppressed, Gilead is a highly patriarchal society = ‘commander’ controls the household, ‘ ankle length… seeing… and from being seen’
• dystopian novel= autocratic regime limiting the freedom of perspective of its citizens = soviet union
• veil= right wing takeover of Iran and Sharia Law

COMPARISON: it is the pursuit of scientific discovery that causes the oppression of females in F, versus denial of it in THT

Question 3

What are the quotes/main points for topic 2?

Answer 3

A perverse form of Sexual reproduction and the role enacted by the female because of the misuse of science

Frankenstein’s overreaching pride concerning scientific discovery causes him to usurp the role of the female in the process of reproduction.
CONTEXT: Shelley writes from a time of increasing cultural concern with science= Galvani and Humphry Davy= thus perhaps this is exploration of the alarming implications of placing our trust solely in science= perversion of nature?
- ‘after so much time spent in painful labour to arrive at once at the summit of my desire was the most gratifying consummation of my toils’

THT: ‘ceremony… Serena grips my hands… fucks with a two four marching stroke’ - both is a perversion of sexuality
- ‘ceremony’ religious provenance= rise of fundamentalism in America and the way in which it distorts even biological functions

Question 4

What are the main quotes for topic 3?

Answer 4

topice 3= the stratification of typical ‘male’ and ‘female’ concerns because of and in relation to science

• Shelley enacts a critique of the praxes of her scientific society: the pragmatic approach shown by Frankenstein in his creation of the monster (in its massive structure with lack of concern for the effects this will have on it), plus the lack of parental care and affection he shows for his creation= Shelley engages in a critique of the disparity between the scientific and the rational versus the familial and social- intrinsic to her 19th century patriarchal society= Romanticism = Rousseau?
• ‘one hand stretched out… seemingly as if to detain me’
• allegory of diverging interests of Elizabeth and Victor= ‘the world was to me a secret…discover… the world was to her a vacancy…people’

THT: Females are subjugated and confined to housework-= do not enact any active or authoritative roles under this regime= birthing ritual is an all-female event ‘a membrane envelops us… we are no longer single’-

CONTEXT: critique of right wing fundamentalism and revival of traditional values
-speculative dystopian as logical superlative to increasingly right wing views manifesting themselves

Question 5

What is the line of thought for the introduction?

Answer 5

Both authors present the effects of the misuse of science on gender roles and the concept of the female within society

THT: an oppressive regime’s removal of science on the construct of gender within a society
F: Frankenstein’s unbridled and overzealous scientific pursuit that is responsible for the distortion of gender roles

THT: a whole society governed by the division of gender roles,
F: whereas it is more subtle, demonstrates the effects of society putting our faith in science alone, whereby she encompasses the impacts this could have on the construct of gender.