Revista de Lenguas Modernas, N.° 27, 2017 / 41-50 / ISSN: 1659-1933

Radical Sexualities in and Fledgling: A Queer-Ecological Glimpse at the Feminist Human / Non-Human Female in Sci-fi

Adriana Jiménez Rodríguez Escuela de Lenguas Modernas Universidad de Costa Rica

Abstract The present paper explores the connections between the radical sexual be- havior of the main female characters in the TV show Lost Girl and Octavia Butler’s novel Fledgling, and Shori respectively. This analysis works from a queer-ecological feminist perspective that understands that science fiction as a genre presents rich opportunities for the development of femi- nist-queer sexual identities in female characters that in turn construct anti- patriarchal queer family structures that can truly transform the world.

Key words: Lost Girl, Fledgling, vampires, symbiont, Fae, succubus, queer families, feminist queer theory, female sexuality, science fiction

Resumen Este artículo explora las conexiones entre el comportamiento sexual ra- dical de los personajes femeninos principales del programa de televisión Lost Girl y la novela de Octavia Butler, Fledgling, Bo y Shori respecti- vamente. El presente análisis trabaja desde una perspectiva feminista queer-ecológica, la cual entiende que el género literario de ciencia ficción presenta enormes oportunidades para el desarrollo de identidades queer feministas que construyen a su vez estructuras familiares queer antipa- triarcales que pueden verdaderamente transformar el mundo.

Palabras clave: Lost Girl, Fledgling, vampiras, symbionte, Fae, súcuba, familias queer, teoría feminist queer, sexualidad femenina, ciencia ficción

Recepción: 13-12-16 Aceptación: 14-03-17 42 Revista de Lenguas Modernas, N.° 27, 2017 / 41-50 / ISSN: 1659-1933

n spite of the unfortunate fact and Fledgling is the feminist queer that we still have to call a femi- world that nourishes radical female Inist female “radical” in her sex- sexual identities, behaviors, and acts. ual identity, orientation and practices, Sf2 struggled to be considered a “se- I find it at least encouraging to find rious” literary genre for years. From a much more frequent examples in both traditionalist point of view, literature literature and television shows. In this that depicted fantasy worlds and alien case, I have chosen the main character characters could only be a form of puer- of sci-fi hit show Lost Girl, Bo (a Fae ile escape. It took a long time of schol- succubus), and Octavia Butler’s Shori arly attention to earn sf a spot in aca- (a hybrid vampire) from her acclaimed demia and therefore “serious” criticism. novel Fledgling. In worlds that are not At a certain point, academics came to real, but science fiction, these females agree that sf was in effect an excellent inhabit a queer-ecological space that source of analysis into a particular so- not only allows but encourages their ciety’s vision not only of the future, but sexual freedom and affirmation. What of the present. In other words, what will happen when they move from the the alien character represented, to “supernatural” to the “natural”? As name just one example, varied greatly the history of the literary genre shows, with the historical / economic context science fiction is actually not that fic- of the time when it was created.3 Not tional; a society’s anxieties project into only does sf show the worldview of a so- these diverse worlds of “un-realness.” ciety in its future projections; it serves As long as the context is a supernatu- an important transformative function ral world that does not “really” exist, as well. In many ways, sf aided social then the fears and / or desires can stay transformation. Again, I think it is safely pinned down. Dystopias have important to understand that the re- been largely discussed in academia, lationship between reality and litera- but I feel that now is the time to move ture is not one-directional. Literature on to the future, so to speak. What are reflects reality (whatever that may be) we afraid of now? What do we desire but also changes it. Our work as critics now? My point is that in the two spe- consists precisely in learning to unrav- cific cases that I will analyze in the el the myriad ways in which this hap- present paper, we desire female desire. pens and to consider the implications Specifically, I am referring to a female both for literary / cultural theory and sexuality that empowers, strengthens, their application to texts and other hu- and helps set a high status within the man artifacts. As Hollinger explains, social organization. My second point is that an analysis via a feminist queer representations of the future in scien- ecology is peculiarly suited to this type ce fiction, whatever else they are, are of material. If queer ecologies center significant responses to the political, on various spaces and / or geographies social, and cultural conditions of their that produce specific types of sexual production, but at the same time, identities1, behaviors and acts, then I science fiction has the capacity, as am sure that Earth as portrayed fan- many experts have suggested, to ac- tastically or supernaturally in Lost Girl tually change the present, notably via JIMÉNEZ. Radical Sexualities in Lost Girl and Fledgling... 43

“the dialectical interplay”—movements Both Shori in Fledgling and Bo in of reflexivity and feedback—between Lost Girl, especially the queer female present and imagined futures. (23-24) version, denaturalize the master nar- rative of patriarchy’s traditional heter- Considering female authorship of sf onormative family. Sf is always poten- and female roles in sf are two ways we tially a queer-ecological space. Again, can illustrate the previous point. Did the a queer female vampire and a queer fe- roles of women in the fiction itself help male succubus inhabit a body that is in inspire women writers to engage in sf or itself science fiction. Therefore, what was it the other way around? 4 Regard- I propose to complete the equation is less of the answer, which would require that both Shori and Bo embody queer- more in-depth analysis of the genealogy ness in a way that only sf can afford. and history of the genre than is possible Furthermore, an even more useful way in the present study, I argue that in to think about the present study’s sub- Fledgling and Lost Girl, sf becomes the ject matter is to view my approach as queer-ecological space that offers trans- what I earlier called “feminist queer gressive female sexualities as socially ecological.” Queer ecology studies any transformative now, in our present. critical reading that includes Sf is rich terrain for queer explora- tions. Pearson explains how “queer re- challenges to notions of normalization/ mains, both within the academy and naturalization and redefinition of queer- among gays and lesbians in general, ness and other sexualities; establishment very much a contested term. . . Queer’s of homes, spaces, and/or ecosystems very slipperiness, however, its tendency as queer-friendly or at least producti- towards instability, and its pleasure in ve of non-heteronormative lifestyles; resisting attempts to make sexuality highlighting of alternative family forma- signify in monolithic ways, are all parts tions and reproductions; and rejection of its appeal” (3). In this sense, precisely of “traditional”, normative, middle-class because queer resists definition, its flu- comprehension of life that include consu- idity and against-the-grain theory and merism and unquestioned dominance of methodology help us read transgres- the natural world (Anderson 83-84) siveness more lucidly. Sf as a genre does practically the same thing to liter- Shori and Bo develop in the very ature that queer does to theory. Its vast specific non-normative space provided array of limitless possibilities becomes by sf as a genre. What is more, Fledgling the multi-layered universe of worlds and Lost Girl each carefully weave very where dissident agencies can develop specific (and peculiar) sf worlds that are much more fully than in other types of conformed by ecosystems that house literature. In effect, “queer, with its de- very queer females who then build non- naturalization of master narratives and heteronormative families that destroy its movements toward subcultural and the evil forces that threaten them. Bo’s subaltern understandings of texts, op- world has multiple dimensions, based erates, by analogy, on some of the same on different mythologies, which provide levels as sf” (Pearson, 4). the only possible setting for the stages of her overarching journey to heroic 44 Revista de Lenguas Modernas, N.° 27, 2017 / 41-50 / ISSN: 1659-1933 maturity. Shori’s Ina (the name that male and female characters are equal- the author gives to her particular vam- ly viable; Bo is capable of monogamy pires) inhabit only the countryside of when desired; and both genders are their fictional Earth countries, for the equally objectified at times. The show’s cities over-stimulate their senses and very origin, then, is deeply grounded in place them in dangerous situations vis- a strong political stance that could not à-vis the humans. Place becomes, then, be manifested in a space other than sf. medullar to the development of the Lovretta herself points out the genre characters and their ecological queer- factor time and time again in her in- ness in both works.5 terviews with critics and the media. The most basic of popular descrip- The creators are aware of the fact that tions of Lost Girl characterize it as a sf becomes, ironically, both a liberat- Canadian show that ing and constricting space—thus, its richness for feminist queer-ecological follows the journey of Bo, a woman exploration is clear. with a painful past who learns that In Lost Girl, Fae society is already she’s a succubus—a mythological being much more liberal than human soci- who uses sex to feed, heal and kill. She ety, and the Fae are certainly very free soon discovers she’s part of an under- sexual agents, but Bo, as an un-aligned ground civilization of people called female succubus, comes to transform the Fae, filled with various creatures the Fae’s very foundations by means from legend and folklore who secretly of her sexuality and un-Fae-like ethics, predate humans in a variety of ways. which lean towards a “radical” Fae- Bo sets about trying to find her space human symbiosis that de-stabilizes among the dangerous Fae while sear- “the Fae ways” and proposes an inter- ching for her true origins. Along the species relationship that challenges way, she created a new family out of the most racist / speciesist of her kind. her human best friend Kenzi, her lo- While Fae individuals have tradition- vers Dyson and Lauren, and her men- ally been allowed to “claim” a human, tor Trick, while trying to use her gift to this has mostly meant the formaliza- help others. (Weinman 1) tion of a master-slave liaison. Bo reluc- tantly “claims” her best friend Kenzi The show uses sf in an innovative when it becomes inevitable, but their way that shows the multiple ways in relationship is anything but tradition- which the genre interacts with the real al. They stand as equal agents, com- word in a multidimensional transac- mitted to each other without the usual tional manner. To illustrate, we can sexual connotation of Fae-human re- consider the “rules” that the original lationships.6 Politically, Bo remains creator of the show, Michelle Lovret- un-aligned through the majority of the ta, presented to the production com- show’s five seasons. This means that pany—and which, I think are followed she overtly refuses to choose a side through to the very end, for the most from the two only available options to part, such as: sexual orientation is not the Fae, the Light or the Dark. In this discussed and never an issue; Bo can way, she unleashes a series of events have sex outside of relationships; her by her staunch agency and her belief JIMÉNEZ. Radical Sexualities in Lost Girl and Fledgling... 45 that the truth lays “ somewhere in the has with current multicultural and middle.” In like manner to Butler’s ‘postracial’ society by seeking to ‘reins- vampire Shori, she decides that “the tate’ the supremacy of whiteness, often way things have always been” is not through such tropes as the triumph of a valid argument for the perpetration the lily-white vampire slayer or through of injustice, and that she is precisely nostalgia for an all-powerful white man the one to change that reality into a who is a vampire.(Morris 146) more balanced, inter-species-oriented, queer-ecological sf world. Butler problematizes vampire liter- Octavia Butler’s last published ature in her writing from the margins novel, Fledgling, tells the story of a of white society and brings disruptive hybrid female vampire, Shori, whose elements that transform the genre and narrative journey takes her from com- suggests social transformation as well, plete amnesia to finding her own place a function of sf that I already discussed among a society of ancient Ina (a spe- in the introduction. The conflict arises cies that predates humans), which in when Shori’s Ina parents begin to ex- her case means challenging notions periment with their children’s DNA, of racial / species superiority and be- mixing it with black humans’ in or- ginning to transform their culture in der to improve the natural strength of significant ways. Shori’s family was their species, insofar as in spite of their murdered and she is the only survivor great power they remain white and of her female side of the family, as the therefore extremely vulnerable to the Ina exist in gender segregation except sunlight during the day. Several rac- for mating purposes. In terms of social ist / speciesist Ina find this miscegena- and familial organizations, the Ina are tion unacceptable and start the mur- already extremely non-normative, as der rampage that Shori manages to they group themselves in Ina-symbiont survive in the end.7 Indeed, as Morris family groups. To clarify a symbiont is explains, “the Afrofuturist feminism a human from which the vampire feeds of the text illuminates epistemologies but whom she / he also takes care of and that do not suggest utopian panaceas loves for their entire lifetime (which is but instead underscore the importance extended beyond natural human years of transgressive manifestations of fam- thanks to the routine substance ex- ily and intimacy, epistemologies that change with the Ina). The trope of the ultimately present possibilities for our vampire has functioned, in like man- own decidedly unenchanted world” ner to the genre of sf, as an indicator of (147). This inter-weaving between sf particular society’s anxieties: and our world is the connecting thread that runs through this entire compara- Previous manifestations of the vampire tive endeavor, and it interconnects phenomenon reflected, for example, xe- with Bo’s transgressive power of trans- nophobic concerns about foreign conta- formation of Fae society in Lost Girl. gion, or the horrors of same-sex desire, One of the most intriguing aspects among other things. Contemporary ite- in both Fledgling and Lost Girl is the rations, however, often underscore some way in which the female characters are of the anxieties mainstream culture leaders that bring individuals together 46 Revista de Lenguas Modernas, N.° 27, 2017 / 41-50 / ISSN: 1659-1933 and join them in non-normative queer knitted family unit. The multiple ways families from which they can fight evil in which they interact with one an- (in both cases evil is injustice, racism other, the various ways in which they / speciesism, the desire for absolute engage with each other, be it sexually patriarchal power) without presenting or emotionally make Bo’s and Shori’s them as perfect social units. The nu- families stronger rather than weaker.9 clear heterosexual family has failed in This radical revision of nuclear, het- its attempt to present itself as the one ero / homo-normative capitalist nucle- true model of social model precisely ar family units is truly revolutionary because of its rigidity and its founda- and transformative. 10 It necessarily tional dependence of the virtual sexual echoes into all and any other forms of / domestic slavery of women and its cultural systems and institutions. It adult-centered, racist, classist, specie- changes the dominant ways in which sist, naturist, deeply misogynist anti- we have sadly learned to exist in the values.8 Bo and Shori, in their respec- world. These strong females’ families tive sf ecosystems, become the center challenge the very structures of male- of queer inter-species families that, in dominated societies (in sf queer eco- their daily struggles with negotiation, systems and the real word). In other provide an alternative to monolithic words, they are imperfect groups that social imperatives. are in constant self-revision and there- As Morris comments, “Fledgling fore encourage an alternative to tra- radically reimagines identity, kinship, ditionalist, vertical-hierarchical social and intimacy through nonmonogamous relations in any patriarchal society. queer human-vampire hybrid families Radical female sexuality (in ethos that have a variety of configurations, and practice) in Bo’s and Shori’s fami- yet it also troubles any easy notions of lies becomes the fertile ground from a vampire utopia by ambivalently re- which innovative, queer relationships garding the concepts of free will and and inter-relationships can emerge, symbiosis” (147). Shori’s male symbi- evolve and transform both the individ- ont, for example, experiences violent ual members, the family units them- sexual jealousy before agreeing to give selves, and the society that they belong up his male privilege of sexual posses- to.11 Bo and Shori are the heart of their sion willingly (although not consistent- families, but they in turn could never ly at first). In the case of Lost Girl, Bo possibly exist without them. This reci- lives with her human best friend and procity becomes the motor of social and sidekick Kenzi while her lovers Dyson cultural transformation (perceived at and Lauren rotate as they constantly first as transgression and dealt with in negotiate their love triangle for the typical patriarchal ways) that begins most part of the first four seasons. In in the multiplicity of ways in which season five, she lives with Tamsin for the inter-species individual members a few weeks while they work through love and interact with each other. “In their friends-then lovers-then room- Fledgling,” says Morris, “mutualism mates relationship status. Whatever not only recalibrates intimacy and their living arrangement, Bo’s part- family, however, but also becomes an ners / friends / lovers remain a tightly- ideal, though imperfect, futurist social JIMÉNEZ. Radical Sexualities in Lost Girl and Fledgling... 47 model, one that is fundamentally at individually and in groups, and in and odds with racism, sexism, and sectar- outside of relationships, much like Sh- ian violence” (156). This critic high- ori. 13 Their “hunger” is sexual first and lights the imperfectness that I referred foremost. It is the undeniable source to earlier, remarking on this trait as of their power, yet they refuse to use a positive one struggling against the it destructively: “Having power does destructive forces in society. Shori par- not necessarily mean using it to domi- takes in the sexual freedom already nate, and Butler’s protagonists [just practiced by her people; she does not as in Lost Girl] work to creative alter- discriminate humans because of their native relations based on cooperation gender identity, sexual orientation, rather than subjugation” (Lacey 382). age, or ethnicity. In essence, then, both female charac- In the novel, the reluctance of her ters exist very much in and from their first chosen symbiont, Wright, allows sexuality, and in order to do so, they for narrative scrutiny of the ways in cooperate with other beings in loving, which sexual prescriptions have become intimate queer relationships that func- monolithic super-structures that hinder tion at a non-normative level. Therein personal and communal development. lays their strength, in themselves and Iosif, Shori’s Ina father, discusses this with others. The power that they both issue particularly when he tells her: accumulate is then used for construc- tive and creative purposes rather than Treat your people well, Shori. Let them destructive projects of traditional pa- see that you trust them and let them triarchal domination of other beings solve their own problems, make their and of the land.14 own decisions. Do that and they will wi- Michelle Lovretta says that she llingly commit their lives to you. Bully does not expect her little show to be them, control them out of fear or malice “serious” or world-altering. I beg to or just for your own convenience, and . . differ. It is very serious, and it has . you’ll have to spend all your time thin- already altered the viewers and their king for them, controlling them, and sti- societies in probably innumerable fling their resentment. (Butler 73)12 ways. I see infinite possibilities after Lost Girl, just as after Fledgling— The family begins with Shori’s im- which Butler critics all agree was mense sexual need for her symbionts— only the first child of one more bril- she not only feeds off of their blood, liant literary saga.15 These two works she requires the sexual and intimate highlight the discussions that can connection to survive. Bo is a succubus, center around powerful female pro- which in reality is the literary equivalent tagonists in a queer-ecological space of the vampire. She also feeds off hu- when issues like race and species are mans and Fae’s “chi” (read blood, or brought to the frontline. For instance, any other bodily fluid) and her feeding, “Shori’s hybrid identity implies that bi- healing, and basic survival depends naries are no longer sufficient because on her sexual connections to people, they rely on fixed boundaries. Shori’s non-normative connections. Bo sleeps existence forces readers into the ambiv- with males, females, humans and Fae, alent realm of the hybrid Third Space 48 Revista de Lenguas Modernas, N.° 27, 2017 / 41-50 / ISSN: 1659-1933 where one must rearticulate the con- their oppressions” (Donawerth 197), versation about identity beyond fixed but my guess is that, precisely in tho- racial categories” (Brox 395). Shori’s se re-imaginations of the world, these DNA becomes the contested site of cul- authors also created fictional charac- tural (and “natural”) change. In spite ters that in turn inspired more writers… of certain Ina’s reluctance to deal with therefore feeding a cyclical, transactio- their inherent racism / speciesism, the nal process of creation. society finally decides to move past 5. In terms of place, and specifically, pos- fear of blood contamination and walk sibly landscape ecology, more could into the future. In Bo’s case, she navi- be easily explored from a focused gates through the Fae and human queer-ecological perspective. In this world in search for her identity, sup- sense, the (natural and cultural) lands- ported and loved by her inter-species cape of both novel and T.V. show are family to the end. As the Chosen One, peculiar manifestations of their cultu- the responsibility of the future of the ral production of queer identities and world lays in her and she refuses to fol- queer family formations. low directives from anyone. She finally 6. Even if Kenzi struggles with her hu- ascends to power without resorting to man-ness through the entire show, she the traditional patriarchal weapons never becomes Fae, and in spite of her of war and destruction, to lead people clear physical / magical disadvantage, and Fae alike in an era of justice and she constantly ends up saving not only queer-ecological balance. Ultimately, Bo, but the entire Fae civilization. This instead of offering simple “solutions” is a hugely important modification of that resolve ambiguity, both Shori and the way in which Fae society views hu- Bo courageously (and comfortably) man beings as imperfect and inferior stay in the realm of ambiguity. There and inferior and challenges their racist is no “truth,” no “one way,” other than / speciesist beliefs to the core. constant flux and transformation. 7. These are the same Ina who view their symbionts as slaves or, in the best of cases, pets, to be used and abused and Notes disposed of without a second thought. This particular aspect resonates loudly 1. Very generally speaking, queer ecology with the way the Fae view humans in problematizes the already deeply com- Lost Girl, and the transgressiveness of plex relationships between the social Bo’s relationships with humans—and construction of sexualities and nature, Shori’s deeply intimate, respectful re- which are indubitably mediated by power. lationships with her symbionts. Both 2. From now on “sf” will be used as an works trace parallels between racism / abbreviation of “science fiction.” speciesism and the destructive forces 3. Exactly like the vampire, as we will dis- in their societies in illuminating ways. cuss later on. 8. Conservative Ina literally burn Shori’s 4. For example, yes, “the technological family compound to the ground. That utopia of the nineteenth century invited is the violent extreme to which they women to write because they could rei- are willing to go to avoid “species magine their lives rather than recording contamination.” In the end, the Ina JIMÉNEZ. Radical Sexualities in Lost Girl and Fledgling... 49

council dissolves the killers’ family and patriotism. The Ina that treat their sym- rules in favor of the DNA experimen- bionts as slaves are the vicious spe- tation that has proven to make Shori ciesist, racist ones. stronger rather than weaker. 13. In Season 05, episode 2, after Kenzi and 9. This runs counter to the traditional Lauren bring Bo back from the realm of “pop culture” portrayal of dissident the underworld where she has been loo- subjectivities as inevitably doomed king for her father, Hades, Bo loses her to self-destruction. There is no self- sex drive. She is emotionally unstable destruction in either of the two works. after Kenzi decided to leave their home There is actually the opposite: creati- to “do human things.” Bo understands ve, mutually-nourishing construction of that it is her choice to leave and respects brave new queer ecosystems. that, but is left heartbroken. She is inju- 10. In season five, episode seven, a heart- red, and if she does not feed, she will broken Tamsin struggles to deal with not heal. Dyson, Lauren, Trick and Tam- Bo’s recurrent need to go back to her son, especially come together to show ex-lover Lauren and negotiate her pla- her that they are her family and that she ce in the family regardless. Bo’s first will never be alone. Bo comes back to monogamous lover, Dyson, tells her her succubus nature and asks everyo- with kindness: “Bo is a succubus. The- ne but Dyson lo leave the room. They re will always be other people. It is her have vigorous sex for hours, to the relief nature.” Bo’s sexuality and her affec- of both Lauren and Tamsin, who are in tion are uncontainable. love with her, but understand her sexua- 11. I am not talking about macho Mormon lity and refuse to challenge the very na- polygamy, which is based on deplorable ture that keeps her alive and powerful. In religious principles to oppress and do- this sense, Lost Girl shows how radical minate women and children for men to female sexuality is accepted and uncon- exploit and profit from that exploitation. tested, something extremely rare in tele- I am talking about two narratives that fo- vision for mass consumption. reground collaborative, loving, compas- 14. Indeed, as Lacey affirms, “Butler’s sionate, multi-layered, nonmonogamous emphases on her characters’ ability relationships as the basis for changing to adapt to changing conditions, their the world, no mean feat. But behold the capacity to create new kinds of sym- brave women imagining these liberating biotic communities, and their potential spaces and writing them (and produ- for gaining and using power in ways cing them) into existence, available for that do not repeat old patterns of domi- hundreds of thousands of readers and nation reveal a strategy of confronting viewers. This is queer realness. This is power with becoming” (392). revolutionarily feminist. This is the future 15. It is unfortunate that Butler died leaving if we are to survive as a species. this “fledgling” on its own, as her critics 12. This sounds like an accurate descrip- all agree her favorite way to tell stories tion of traditional monogamous rela- was always in several books in a se- tionships in patriarchy, which is then ries. I cannot help but wonder if this mirrored in larger structures such as fact only makes more poetic sense. the institutions that support nation- The door is open to limitless possibility. states and their myth of nationality and 50 Revista de Lenguas Modernas, N.° 27, 2017 / 41-50 / ISSN: 1659-1933

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