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Religion and Women as portrayed in The Parable of the Sower
by Octavia Butler
Octavia Butler's
Parable of the Sower
is founded on a dystopian future society with the retention
of traditional gender roles among women. These are seen through the novel's established cultural
myths and stereotypes of women and religion. For example, women are forced to stay within
their community. On the other hand, men have an opportunity of adventuring beyond the walls.
However, traditional gender roles take a different turn when everyone is forced to leave the
community. One interesting figure, Lauren Olamina, defies existing gender expectations. Despite
her will to live beyond her stereotyped cultural and religious boundaries, she is considered
vulnerable because she suffers from hyper empathy.
The aspect of her experiencing pain from those around her depicts her as a weak
personality, which puts more weight considering that she is a woman. She is forced to disguise
herself as a man to hide this weakness. Lauren's hyper empathy limits her urge to hide as a
complete masculine in a quest to survive the hardship in a chaotic society. Thus, an assessment
of Octavia Butler's
Parable of the Sower
raises the question: how does the position of Lauren
and other females in the novel represent cultural myths and stereotypes of women and religion?
Through the above question, an annotated discussion on cultural myths and stereotypes of
women and religion on Octavia Butler's
Parable of the Sower
will create an understanding of
how women are expected to maintain their feminine traits in a society that demands
hypermasculinity to survive.
Butler, Octavia E., et al.
Parable of the Sower
. Open Road Integrated Media-New York,
2021
Butler talks of a society that enforces gender roles among women, limiting them to enhance
survival skills. At the beginning of the novel, Butler presents the position of Lauren Olamina
concerning Christianity (11). Butler writes, "His church stopped being my church. And yet,
today, because I'm a coward, I let myself be initiated into that church (11)." This suggests that
society forces individuals, especially women, to comply with traditional religious beliefs and
practices due to influence from their parents and loved ones. The same applies to other aspects of
culture, such as the relationship between men and women. For example, women are expected to
marry.
Also, they are expected to have children while men have the sole responsibility of
protecting themselves and their families. Butler confirms this through Lauren's remarks
regarding Bianca. Lauren states that Bianca's life is one of her options due to the expectations
placed on women in the neighborhood (87). Like her, the expectations are for her to get married
and have babies. Joan also accepts her role due to her fear that she cannot survive without
complying with community expectations (Butler 53). The novel is at the center of this discussion
because it mirrors the strict gender binary associated with society in preparing males for the
outside world. At the same time, females are forced to remain inside.
Drzata, Elijah. "Gender in Dystopia: The Persistence of Essentialist Ideologies in Octavia
Butler's Parable of the Sower."
The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research
Journal (URJ),
vol.
11, no.1, 2020 p. 18-23.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1103&context=urj
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Drzata is specific about the role of change, a newfound God by Lauren Olamina, and how it
influences her survival in a chaotic, dystopian society (19). This can be confirmed by the
relationship between Lauren, her traditional Christian family, and her surrounding environment.
Lauren's father serves in the church as a Baptist-Minister; she does not believe in the Christian
God despite her baptism. For her, change is considered a privilege to fight back against bigotry
in the quest for survival. In the novel, Lauren is pressured by her survival to conform to
traditional cultural and religious ideologies to facilitate her safety, showing that her conformance
to the ideologies represents a broader institutional problem.
If she chooses her conformance, she will have to remain in the community where she was
raised and fight to survive. However, challenging these ideologies pushes Lauren to assist others
in moving from a painful environment to one that is stable and peaceful (21). Hence, the
importance of the article by Drzata is that it provides us with answers regarding how new gender
and sexual identity are instrumental in defining survival in a chaotic society (18-23). It shows
that a shift from traditional religious ideologies and practices influences individuals to fight their
stereotyped vulnerabilities and promote their development.
Moreno, Micah. “Survival by Any Means: Race and Gender, Passing and Performance in
Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents.”
Human
Contradictions in Octavia E. Butler's Work
, 2020, pp. 1–64.,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46625-1_11.
Moreno presents the
Parable of Sower
as mirroring the fact that many societies require women
to embody female traits (3). Among these female traits are maternal and emotional instincts
while fighting to survive the dangers of an animalistic society. Lauren’s peers represent the
differences between how women and men are raised. It mirrors the expectations of society
regarding how they should behave and the aspirations they should hold. The above can be
confirmed through the falling apart of the community.
The novel
Parable of Sower
shows that the community favors masculine qualities
(Moreno 19). Lauren is trying to escape her limited societal role and has to disguise herself. Still,
she experiences continuous feminization because of her extreme ability to feel and show
empathy to those around her. The importance of the article is that it establishes women as
individuals limited to succeed by their societies. It shows that stereotypically feminine traits
negate qualities since they are supported by strict gender roles, which are highly problematic.
Achachelooei, Elham Mohammadi. "The Falling of the Racial, Economic, Sexist-Gendered
segregating Wall in Octavia Butler’s Parables."
Sarjana
, vol. 35, no.2, 2020, pp. 15-
25.
Achacheloei creates a specific discussion on gender and racial stereotyping of women in society
(15-25). The article presents the struggles that Black females have to undergo in beating
traditional religious and cultural practices to achieve their desires and individual goals.
Achacheloei presents the struggles of Lauren, a Black female reformer who establishes
Earthseed, a religion that initiates change (16). Lauren symbolizes hope for any female who
works hard to go beyond the traditional societal norms limiting her potential. Christianity, in the
discussion, is considered a religious discourse that aligns with specific socio-cultural concepts
and aspects that limit female developments.
Christianity in the novel is associated with gender discrimination through the provision of
roles and positions of women in society. Archacheloei presents the position of women in Octavia
Butler's
Parable of the Sower
as one that is seen as having significant vulnerability compared to
that of men (21). Hence, with the introduction of change by the new religion by Lauren in the
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novel, Earthseed, the article discusses a gradual disappearance of discriminative and
stereotypical cultural myths and stereotypes associated with a chaotic society founded on
traditional Christian beliefs and practices.
Shahnavaz, Delia. "Earthseed Planted: Ecofeminist Teachings in Octavia Butler's Parable
of the Sower."
The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal
, vol. 9,
no.2, 2016, pp. 40-46.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1086&context=urj
Male supremacy is the culture of the chaotic, dystopian society where Lauren lives and is forced
to survive. According to Shahnavaz, ecofeminism is more of an opportunity for a woman than
complying with traditional religious and cultural practices (41). A woman such as Lauren is
considered a change maker to the already existing culture and religion. She wants to move away
from a practice that has made women remain behind in terms of developing and catching up with
their male counterparts to achieve their potential.
The rejection of a culture of patriarchy in religion and social developments is seen as a
way women can survive society's chaotic nature. Ecofeminism is not about resisting only
naturism but ensuring that gender can eliminate any suffering associated with it (Shahnavaz 43).
Lauren can achieve freedom because she can rebuild, reimagine, and heal from choosing
ecofeminism above anything else in her quest to survive. The importance of the article is that it
depicts a picture of hope among women through the skills they learn through nurturing
associated with their environments.
Chow, Stephanie. S. Coping with Difference: Social Identity and Mediating Intergroup
Conflict in Octavia E. Butler’s Science Fiction Novels
.
Originally published in
Explorations:
The UC Davis Undergraduate Research Journa
l, vol. 14, 2011, pp. 1-
17.
http://undergraduateresearch.ucdavis.edu/explorations.
Chow shows the relationship between cultural myths and stereotypes through her writing. She
talks about Lauren, who is considered different and treated uniquely because of her hyper
empathy. It seems that her gender is instrumental in triggering the discrimination she experiences
throughout the story (7). The same treatment can be seen in how different groups in the novel
treat each other. Social identity is seen as a significant factor in categorizing groups depending
on the accessibility of privileges. The article discusses Butler’s characters from social and group
identity. The focus is about the struggles of the race considered vulnerable, having to fight and
survive the boundaries of race and gender. One specific group includes the Olamina’s family,
which has to care for the rest of the society by guiding them to their church within the
community walls.
Chow states, “In her narrative, Butler acknowledges upfront the threatening aspect of
inviting the other inside your boundary” (5). The statement shows the importance of how social
identity influences survival. Individuals from the same races are likely to stay together than those
from other races. The discussion presented by Chow suggests the implications of traditional
cultural myths regarding the superiority of race and stereotypes associated with how these races
should live among and against each other. It can be used to understand the origin of racial and
gender discrimination among societies.
Grecca, Gabriela Bruschini. “‘a Racist Challenge Might Force Us Apart’: Divergence,
Reliance and Empathy in Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler.”
Ilha Do Desterro
A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies
, vol. 74, no.
1, 2021, pp. 347–362., https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2021.e73535.
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Surname 4
Grecca presents a comprehensive discussion on the relationship between race and gender as a
framework to understand cultural myths and stereotypes of women and African Americans (349).
According to Grecca, Butler is seen as having an unflinching eye on problems such as ignorance,
poverty, and sexism as created by traditional concepts of religion and social development (350).
Despite the oppressors creating the problems, their occurrence includes devastating results that
affect both victims and their oppressors.
According to Grecca, oppressors may have established such problems to discriminate
against their victims, but the dystopian nature of the society has somehow influenced the society
to affect the two without mercy (349). Grecca's article is important because it initiates thinking
about the nature of societies that are founded on traditional religious and cultural practices. The
practices are meant to discriminate and harm those considered to be vulnerable. However, the
study shows that these newly created problems affect everyone even when they are not equally
distributed.
Barba Guerrero, Paula. “A Vulnerable Sense of Place: Re-Adapting Post-Apocalyptic
Dystopia in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Colson Whitehead’s Zone
One.”
Revista De Estudios Norteamericanos
, no. 23, 2019, pp. 45–70.,
https://doi.org/10.12795/ren.2019.i23.03.
Barba draws a clear picture of how societies work by looking at Butler's dystopian community in
the
Parable of the Sower
. Barba presents an essential point regarding who suffers most at the
hands of religion and culture in society (46). Women are at the centre of a forced life, involving
them experiencing mandatory religious practices, marriages, and caring for children and the
dominant male (45). Such a situation, according to Barba, creates vulnerability in terms of
women seeking a life of their own.
The same is applicable in women reimagining independence away from a society built to
favor males. Therefore, the article is important because it shows women's traumatic events as
they seek to change their lives from traditional religious and cultural practices (Barba 70). The
picture created by the article is that women try to break the stereotypes and myths that they are
vulnerable and they should serve the community instead of following their dreams.
Tweedy III, Clarence W. "The Anointed: Countering Dystopia with Faith in Octavia
Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents."
Americana: The Journal
of American Popular Culture, vol.
13, 2014.
https://americanpopularculture.com/journal/articles/spring_2014/tweedy.htm
Tweedy III talks about the nature of human beings and how it influences their survival in an
environment that they have built through traditional beliefs and practices that focuses on their
well-being. For example, the discussion on Butler’s character, Lauren, suggests that change is
instrumental in determining human survival. Anyone who conforms to these traditional beliefs
and practices dies in the novel
the Parable of the Sower.
However, Tweedy III talks about
Earthseed as a survival tool because it moves away from the contemporary beliefs established by
traditional societal practices (2).
This can be seen from the argument that the re-articulation and re-definition of God in the
new religion eliminates human suffering and humiliation because it offers a new doctrine that
encourages self-reliance (5). The importance of the article is that it provides a picture that
individuals have to depend on their capacity to change and live according to the change they
introduce. It shows that traditional societal practices are dangerous than initiatives to depend on
change to influence decision-making among societal members.
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Collier, Sarah C. "Working the Garden: Women and Religion in Apocalyptic Fiction."
William and Mary Scholar Works
, 2017, pp. 1-54.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=2083&context=honorstheses
Collier has shown that religion is at the centre of the picture presented by Butler’s
Parable of the
Sower.
For example, the Garden of Eden, from a theological perspective, is seen by Collier as
representing the community where Lauren lives (5). Like the Garden of Eden, her community
becomes devastated by chaos, war, and crimes. Lauren and her community members find
themselves in a similar calamity as Adam and Eve. They have to struggle to live away from the
garden, with most of them who fail to keep up with change having to die from different
hardships such as crimes and violence.
Collier states that the new religion that Butler crafts in the image of Lauren is seen as a
new beginning from individuals moving away from traditional religious beliefs and practices
(40). It is one way for characters to appreciate other norms away from patriarchally established
power associated with the church and the home environments. The importance of the article is
that it creates an understanding of what it means for individuals to appreciate the change in their
religious beliefs.
Abbott, Carl. "Pasadena on Her Mind: Exploring Roots of Octavia E. Butler’s
Fiction."
The Western Historical Quarterly
, vol. 49, no.3, 2018, pp. 1-16.
https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1228&context=usp_fac
Abbot offers the reason for writing
the Parable of the Sower
by Octavia Butler. According to
Abbot, the novel is founded on the life of Butler and the influence of her environment while
growing up. She finds herself living and moving from one area to another in the Southern parts
of the United States (5). Like Lauren, she is assumed to be a lesbian due to her height, short hair,
and deep voice. She was also forced to move from one school to another as she grew up in
Pasadena and adjacent to Altadena. In Altadena and La Canada Flintridge, she finds herself in
white-dominated schools.
Despite receiving support from her extended family, her unique appearance forces her to
become self-isolated. Abbot shows that she is also a complex and compelling artist who fails to
fit in common patterns (13). Therefore, the article suggests that Octavia Butler's picture about
Lauren is more about her than any other societal figure regarding the struggles experienced in
dealing with traditional societal norms and practices.
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Work Cited
Abbott, Carl. "Pasadena on Her Mind: Exploring Roots of Octavia E. Butler’s Fiction."
The
Western Historical Quarterly
, vol. 49, no.3, 2018, pp. 325-334.
https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1228&context=usp_fac
Achachelooei, Elham Mohammadi. "The Falling of the Racial, Economic, Sexist-Gendered
segregating Wall in Octavia Butler’s Parables."
Sarjana
, vol. 35, no.2, 2020, pp. 15-25.
Barba Guerrero, Paula. “A Vulnerable Sense of Place: Re-Adapting Post-Apocalyptic Dystopia
in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Colson Whitehead’s Zone One.”
Revista De
Estudios Norteamericanos
, no. 23, 2019, pp. 45–70.,
https://doi.org/10.12795/ren.2019.i23.03.
Butler, Octavia E., et al.
Parable of the Sower
. Open Road Integrated Media-New York, 2021
Chow, Stephanie. S. Coping with Difference: Social Identity and Mediating Intergroup Conflict
in Octavia E. Butler’s Science Fiction Novels
.
Originally published in Explorations:
The
UC Davis Undergraduate Research Journa
l, vol. 14, 2011, pp. 1-17.
http://undergraduateresearch.ucdavis.edu/explorations.
Collier, Sarah C. "Working the Garden: Women and Religion in Apocalyptic Fiction."
William
and Mary Scholar Works
, 2017, pp. 1-54.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2083&context=honorstheses
Drzata, Elijah. "Gender in Dystopia: The Persistence of Essentialist Ideologies in Octavia
Butler's Parable of the Sower."
The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research
Journal (URJ),
vol.
11, no.1, 2020 p. 18-23.
Grecca, Gabriela Bruschini. “‘a Racist Challenge Might Force Us Apart’: Divergence, Reliance
and Empathy in Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler.”
Ilha Do Desterro a Journal of
English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies
, vol. 74, no. 1, 2021, pp.
347–362., https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2021.e73535.
Moreno, Micah. “Survival by Any Means: Race and Gender, Passing and Performance in
Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents.”
Human Contradictions
in Octavia E. Butler's Work
, 2020, pp. 1–64., https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46625-
1_11.
Shahnavaz, Delia. "Earthseed Planted: Ecofeminist Teachings in Octavia Butler's Parable of the
Sower."
The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal
, vol. 9, no.2, 2016,
pp. 40-46.
Tweedy III, Clarence W. "The Anointed: Countering Dystopia with Faith in Octavia Butler's
Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents."
Americana: The Journal of American
Popular Culture, vol.
13, 2014.
https://americanpopularculture.com/journal/articles/spring_2014/tweedy.htm
Your preview ends here
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