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LITR 4368 Literature of the Future 
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Sample answers
for Essay 2:
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Sage Butler
Blessed Be the Fruit
When reading narratives of the future, one characteristic
I have noticed is that reproductive health and rate plays a critical role in the
outcome of a society. Fertility influences mental health, the laws that govern
us, and the role of women. These relationships are not only evident in
literature, but also in studies that have been conducted on the topic.
One significant work of literature that depicts this is
Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.
With reproductive health rapidly dissipating in the novel, the United States
becomes “Gilead,” a patriarchal society where the handmaids—the few fertile
women left—become enslaved, raped, and devalued. In Gilead, any inability to
procreate is blamed on the women, as even “sterile” is a forbidden word, which
leaves the wives feeling shameful and helpless. The reproductive health crisis
in this novel leads to the oppression of women and regression of society as a
whole, as the elite men in this society decide that equality and moving away
from God is the reason for this, and use that to justify controlling women.
Handmaid’s Tale was written as a
warning for many issues present that could lead to the downfall of our society,
including reproductive health, which is often taken less seriously by many in
the medical community.
This is verified through the reports of women, as well as
various studies on the topic. Kiesel (2017) reported that “70% of the people
[chronic pain] impacts are women. And yet, 80% of pain studies are conducted on
male mice or human men. One of the few studies to research gender differences in
the experience of pain found that women tend to feel it more of the time and
more intensely than men.” This discrepancy is supported by numerous sources, and
seems to be especially common when discussing reproductive health, one example
of such being that it takes an average of seven years to get diagnosed with
endometriosis (Arruda, Abrea, Benetti-Pinto, and Petta, 2003), a condition that
often causes chronic pain, abnormal menstrual cycles, and fertility issues. This
may be one contributing factor to the rising infertility rates—according to
Premier Health (2018), up to one in seven couples trying to conceive may
struggle with infertility. Another concern is the cost of treatment for
infertility, as the “cost for one cycle as a percent of the average annual
disposable income of a single person with no dependent children [was] over 50%
in the US and Mexico.” The significant cost of fertility treatments make it so
that only the wealthy have a decent chance of success, which parallels the role
of socioeconomic status and having a handmaid in
Handmaid’s Tale.
Though there are no great examples of infertility in
literature we examine in our course, there is some work worthy of examining. In
Parable of the Sower, we read that
women seem to have children pretty easily, and often at a young age. However,
considering the lack of access to food and water, it is surprising that women
are able to conceive and deliver healthy babies, which is not what we would
expect, since “because preservation of female energy expenditure for
reproduction is essential, appetite and the reproductive axis are closely linked
to nutritional status. As a safeguard against untimely reproduction due to
undernutrition, ovarian activity is suppressed…” (The ESHRE Capri Workshop
Group, 2006). Since the reproductive system is non-essential for survival, it is
unexpected that the undernourished women from this novel would be able to
reproduce so easily. In the Time Machine,
there is no evidence of pregnancy or even biological sex differences in the Eloi
or Morlocks, which could indicate an inability to reproduce, which could have
long-term negative implications as they all inevitably die. Not having children
also may be part of why the Eloi struggle to care for others, since they may
have no desire to nurture and ensure the wellbeing of another being.
Another text that could be relevant to this is “Speech
Sounds.” Though it does not appear that there were any reproductive health
issues that presented as part of the virus that spread across their world, there
was a reduced desire to reproduce. Rye shows this fear when she was faced with
intimacy: “Disease, pregnancy, helpless, solitary agony… no… What kind of world
was this to chance bringing a child into even if the father were willing to stay
and help raise it?” The fear of bringing children into a difficult world is
paralleled with our society, in which one significant issue we are facing is the
fate of our environment. According to Wynes and Nicholas, one of the most
significant choices one could make to reduce their carbon footprint is “having
one fewer child… have much greater potential to reduce emissions than commonly
promoted strategies.” As more people are becoming more aware of their own effect
on the environment, many are making choices to help reduce their impact, and
this is one of the biggest, most impactful ways to help.
This point is reiterated in “Chocco,” as the only people
who managed to survive in the world we are destroying lived by the following
commandments: “restrain our numbers, limit our consumption, remember that the
spiritual is the measure and meaning of all things.” (Future
Primitive, page 197). As this issue becomes more relevant in our world, we
may see more people taking these measures to prevent climatic disaster, and
fewer children being born—especially in more developed countries, where we are
more informed and have better access to healthcare and more rights as women.
Many believe that, because of the high birth rate that characterize developing
countries, the decreasing of the birth rate in the United States is
insignificant. However, as of now, we are currently 16% below the replacement
rate in the U.S., according to a study conducted by the Center for Disease
Control in 2017.
To combat this issue, we have to address the two
fronts: the high rate of reproduction present in developing countries, and the
quickly decreasing rate of reproduction in the United States. To reduce the
reproductive rate in developing countries, it is most important to educate all
children—especially females. “Research
consistently shows that women who are empowered through education tend to have
fewer children and have them later… and contribute more to their communities’
economic growth. Indeed, educating girls can transform whole communities,”
(Reading, 2011). Education access in developing countries can be improved by
creating policy to mandate that all go to school, and providing meals to
incentivize going—similar to the Free & Reduced Lunch program in America. While
stabilizing the reproductive rate in those countries, we can take measures to
improve the fertility issues that prevent many from having children. These
measures have huge impacts on the reproductive health of the entire world, and
can even reduce our ecological damage
References
Arruda, Abrea, Benetti-Pinto, and Petta. “Time Elapsed
from Onset of Symptoms to Diagnosis of Endometriosis in a Cohort Study of
Brazilian Women.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Apr. 2003,
academic.oup.com/humrep/article/18/4/756/596537.
Atwood, Margaret. Handmaid’s Tale. Jonathan Cape LTD,
1985.
Butler, Octavia E. Parable of the Sower. Grand Central
Pub, 1993.
Butler, Octavia E. “Speech Sounds.” 1983.
“Education
Leads to Lower Fertility and Increased Prosperity.” Data Highlights - 13:
Education Leads to Lower Fertility and Increased Prosperity | EPI, Earth Policy
Institute, 12 May 2011, www.earth-policy.org/data_highlights/2011/highlights13.
Kiesel, Laura. “Women and Pain: Disparities in Experience
and Treatment.” Harvard Health, Harvard University, 7 Oct. 2017,
www.health.harvard.edu/blog/women-and-pain-disparities-in-experience-and-treatment-2017100912562.
Klitzman, Robert. “How Much Is a Child Worth? Providers'
and Patients' Views and Responses Concerning Ethical and Policy Challenges in
Paying for ART.” Plos One, Public Library of Science, 16 Feb. 2016,
journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0171939.
Robinson, Kim Stanley. Future Primitive: the New
Ecotopias. TOR, 1997.
Wells, H. G. The Time Machine. Legend Press, 1895.
“What’s Up with Rising
Infertility Rates?” Premier Health, 23 Jan. 2018,
www.premierhealth.com/Women-Wisdom-Wellness/Content/What-s-Up-with-Rising-Infertility-Rates-/.
Wynes, Seth and Nicholas, Kimberly. 2017 Environ. Res.
Lett. 12 074024The ESHRE Capri Workshop Group. “Nutrition and Reproduction in
Women.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 31 Jan. 2006,
academic.oup.com/humupd/article/12/3/193/554114#8787238.
