“So We All Became Mothers”:
Reproductive Equality in Marge
Piercy
By Mala Ghoshal
One of the facets of science fiction
which is particularly valuable to feminism is its ability to conceptually
separate elements which are, in our society, nearly inextricably bound
together, in order to consider each element individually. An excellent case in
point is the distinction between sexual difference and reproductive difference.
This paper focuses on Marge Piercy’s novel Woman
on the Edge of Time, which preserves the existence of two sexes but does
away with the distinction between a birthing sex and a non-birthing sex.
Furthermore, Piercy argues that sexual difference in and of itself doesn’t
preclude the creation of an egalitarian society; reproductive difference, on
the other hand, must be surmounted before true equality can be achieved.
