Gattaca and Posthuman Bodies

Posthuman Bodies
This reading talks about the movement towards a new type of “reproductive technology”, as the text states. Throughout the piece the author calls on multiple different literary texts that cover the idea of this. All the pieces display this in different ways. The first work discussed was Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. This was valid for its discussion of the male as a “mother” or “creator”. One piece, The Passion of New Eve, is about the idea of “the pregnant man”. Even though originally a man, there were surgeries that turned him into a biological female. Another piece talks about the surrogate mother, this one is titled The Sugar Mother. There are a few others talked about, but they all come down to the idea of a more “productive and pleasurable models for reproducing the posthuman body.”
Gattaca
This film takes place in the “not-too-distant future”. It fallows the life of Vincent. He is a “god-child” meaning he was created the “natural way” or at least what we view as natural. This made it so that he was predisposed to heart disease along with a great deal of other genetic problems, with a life expectancy of 30 years. This automatically makes him a second class citizen. He has a younger brother that was genetically designed and considered to be his superior in many ways. There is always a rivalry between the two. Vincent adopts the identity of Jerome Marrow so that he can go after his dream of becoming an astronaut. This requires blood, urine, skin, and many other body samples so that he can pass countless tests presented everyday to him. A murder takes place where he works and all that he has worked for comes very close to being destroyed. He falls in love with Uma Thurman and develops a friendship with Jude Law. In the end Vincent makes it to space, and Jerome kills himself.
Vocab
Iatrogenic- induced inadvertently by a physician, surgeon, or medical treatment
Obstetrical- relating to childbirth
Continuity- uninterrupted succession or union
Ectogenesis- development outside the body (dictionary.reference.com)
Recapitulation- a concise summary
Reinscribes- to reestablish or rename
-all other definitions were found at merriam-webster.com/dictionary
Questions
Who were the biological parents of the alien?
Which is more defining, sex or gender?
Why does society view this genetically engineered as glamorous?
Do you think this idea came about as a way for men to be truly “in power”?