Delany's "Aye, and Gomorrah"

"'Yes.' She looked down. I glanced to see the expression she was hiding. It was a smile. 'You have your glorious, soaring life, and you have us.' Her face came up. She glowed. 'You spin in the sky, the world spins under you, and you step from land to land, while we...' She turned her head right, left, and her black hair curled and uncurled on the shoulder of her coat. 'We have our dull, circled lives, bound in gravity, worshiping you!'"
 - From Samuel R. Delany's Aye, and Gomorrah

Samuel R. Delany, through his short story, Aye and Gomorrah, enables us as readers to picture a future society in which the differences between genders becomes neutralized in the form of "spacers": people who have given up their sexuality in order to work in space.

Even from the beginning of the story, the spacers seem to be separated from the rest of the earthly people who still have their sexuality; their original genders can't be identified and they act as though they are still in their youth as if they have failed to mature due to their inability to feel sexual desires.

In the quote taken from the book, a "frelk," someone who desires sexual favors from the spacers, makes a statement which compares the spacers to the rest of the people. She says, "You spin in the sky, the world spins under you, and you step from land to land, while we...We have our dull, circled lives, bound in gravity, worshiping you!" Her statement introduces an interesting aspect to the concept of sexuality and its importance in our lives. Though the speaker might be referring to the more literal fact of the spacers' ability to fly into space which enables them to remove themselves from the earthly world, I believe it could also be referring to the sense of liberty and freedom the spacers' lack of gender and sexuality might give them.

Gender and sexuality in society tends to bind people for many reasons. First of all, the human need to satisfy sexual desires and to gain sexual pleasure sometimes override one's common sense and even causes immoral activities, such as prostitution. Prostitution also takes place in the story as the spacers, too, engage in prostitution by having physical relationships with the frelks in exchange for money. However, for the spacers, it doesn't necessarily mean anything since they don't feel sensual and sexual pleasure from being involved in such act. In addition, gender also takes form in language as different languages. For example, Spanish involves having masculine and feminine nouns which are strictly distinguished.

Gender in society also refers to roles of people; specifically to the role of women and the role of men. By dividing the roles of people in accordance to gender, the concepts of inequality sprout and there always seems to be no unification among the people. In addition, people are bound to their roles in society accordingly to their gender; it hasn't been long in history where women, especially, have been allowed to seek roles in the world of men. In contrast, however, the spacers, with their lack of gender and immaturity, are able to more freely enjoy who they are without the need to fulfill a role in society which relates to their gender. Instead, they play a role which benefits the society as a whole. Therefore, the spacers seem to be unbound by the concept of gender and sexuality which, for the rest of the earthly people, seem to act like the "gravity" which binds people firmly to the ground.