![]() Because T’Gatoi needs this power in the outside world to protect Gan and his family, she has not learned to show weakness or allow herself to be vulnerable within the relationship. Butler uses their unbalanced relationship to critique the way that rigid masculinity often stunts relationships. T’Gatoi’s unmatched power and strength are critical for the protection of Gan’s family from the world, but cause inequity in her relationship with Gan. This again parallels the traditional subservience of women within patriarchal relationships. It is also stated multiple times that Gan is T’Gatoi’s property. Even when T’Gatoi strikes him, knocking him across the room, Gan blames himself for not heeding her warning to obey her rather than blaming T’Gatoi for hurting him. Until Gan comes of age, he has also been entirely submissive to T’Gatoi, doing whatever she asks and accepting whatever physical affection she gives. It is further significant that the children Gan must bear are literally parasitic, just as an unwanted pregnancy may seem like a parasitic attachment, a foreign organism draining a woman’s strength and well-being. This parallels the arranged marriages of certain human societies wherein young women were promised as future brides at a very young age. His singular function in life is to help T’Gatoi have children. Gan has been chosen from birth to carry T’Gatoi’s children in his body, without ever having any say in the matter, as a part of a social contract between the Terran and the Tlic. This reflects the dominance and responsibility that men have long held in patriarchal societies.īy contrast, it’s clear that Gan-occupying a traditionally female role-is not equal to T’Gatoi in their relationship. ![]() T’Gatoi is also socially dominant: she is a successful politician and the ruler of the Preserve, using this power to protect the Terrans from the “hordes” of desperate Tlic that would consume them. ![]() When she brings sterile eggs for the family to drink, for instance, she dictates who gets how much. T’Gatoi never makes requests, but only gives commands, even when she is in Gan’s family’s home. She is physically dominant, being ten feet in length and far more powerful than Gan. T’Gatoi, though female, reflects traditional masculinity. Butler uses this conceit to highlight the restrictive and harmful nature of traditional gender dynamics, in particular the ways in which rigid adherence to masculinity robs others of agency and power. By effectively gender-swapping these roles, Butler lifts them away from the reader’s preconceptions about men and women so that these roles can be considered in their own right. ![]() Gan, although male, is a representation of motherhood and traditionally feminine role (in human terms). Through the relationship between Gan and T’Gatoi, Butler uses an unfamiliar environment to critique familiar gender roles and the balance of power within stereotypical relationships. ![]()
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