Journal 6

Journal 6
Sexuality is a prominent theme that runs through Delaney’s Stars in my Pocket like Grains of Sand. In his world, rules, regulations, and computer programs govern the dating life of the humans within the society. Although these rules seem to limit the sexual exploits of the people and Evelmy in the society, the Sygn also allows for homosexuality and interspecies relationships. Moreover, gender in their society is not tied to sex, but rather an indicator of sentience and desire. In this day in age, although the world is becoming more open and accepting of those that do not align with traditional sexuality and gender preference, we still have a long way to go until the world looks more like Delaney’s then our current society.
It took a while for me to grasp and understand the gender pronouns and the societal structure as it pertained to sexuality throughout the novel, however, eventually I began to wonder whether Delaney’s ideas are not out of reach. Although, unless some closely related species to humans is discovered, I do not believe that there will come a time when humans engage in interspecies relationships, the world is moving towards the general consensus that both sexuality and gender is a spectrum or continuum. This idea, if widely adopted, is the first step to abandoning gender as it pertains to sex and adopting alternate meanings for “he” and “she” as Delaney describes in the novel.
It will be interesting to see where the world arrives within my lifetime on the topic and policies surrounding sexuality.