Week 12: Afro Futurism - Bloodchild by Octavia Butler

     Bloodchild by Octavia Butler is a story that has been on mind ever since I read it. Not only has it been haunting my thoughts due to the gross idea of being humans being used as a reproductive tool for another species but that this species is like a giant bug. It is truly two of worst fears into one, pregnancy and creepy bugs. But I must agree that reading this short story was worth my time since it reminded me of the gender roles in our society when it comes to pregnancy. 

To start off I enjoy but do not enjoy how Octavia Butler horrified pregnancy with this story by not only making the mate a giant scary bug but specifically making male humans the target. It truly reminds the readers how pregnancy is no joke and has been glamorized in our reality. When women get pregnant many people convince the woman that this is a beautiful process that one should be proud of even though literally a being is growing inside of you meanwhile taking away all of your energy and may kill you at the of the pregnancy. Let’s not forget that once the pregnancy is over the woman has to go over an entire other process of recovery as society expects her to take care of a child that she may or may have not agreed to have. This story truly cements the idea on how gender roles are so important when it comes to situation like this. When a man gets pregnant it is something abnormal and scary yet if it is a woman it is something beautiful even though there are the same risk. One can even say that the eggs that T’Gatoi feeds the protagonist’s family is their way of manipulating them into the process just like society has manipulated women that they have no control over their body for decades. 

Octavia Butler truly puts pregnancy into a perspective that many readers may not want to face. To see that the world of Bloodchild is real in our world but with the opposite sex and without the dramatic scary bugs. We are all being manipulated just like the Tlic have done to the humans in the story. This story really did make me think. 

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