Document Type
Paper
Abstract
“Sex, the Body, and Learning Gender” analyzes the relationship between the physical body, sexual orientation, and gender as characterized within Lois McMaster Bujold’s World of the Five Gods series, with a particular emphasis on her Penric and Desdemona novellas. Using the framework of Bussey and Bandura’s social learning theory, and a close reading of Bujold’s text, this paper explores how the demonic characters within this series are an example of gender as a learned concept rather than a biological imperative. This is further developed by examining how the demonic characters both imprint on and contrast against the more societally-bound sorcerers whom they possess. Finally, the gendered interactions between side characters, the male sorcerer Penric, and the female demon Desdemona who possesses him are examined, as well as how knowledge of that possession affects those interactions.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
McBrien, Erin E.
(2025)
"Sex, the Body, and Learning Gender: Demons in the World of the Five Gods,"
Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings: Vol. 2025:
Iss.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://dc.swosu.edu/mythpro/vol2025/iss1/4
Included in
Fiction Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Personality and Social Contexts Commons
