Week Ten : Narratives from the Multiverse

This week I decided on reading Samuel R. Delany’s short story, Aye and Gomorrah (1967). I visited its Wiki and read its synopsis… I read the word ‘androgonous’ and that’s all I needed. I'm all about androgonous characters. I LOVE EM’! Samuel R. Delany, you have grabbed my attention. Sign me up.
So anyway, yeah, I read it and WOW. It was a SUPER short read. I finished it in just 15 min. And, sadly, I ended up wanting more. I was so immersed in the world, I just want to know more about it; how things work. What I found most interesting within the short story is how homosexuality is accepted in this universe. Delany is very much open to the themes of sexuality and gender within his works. Though, upon first reading the short story, the topic of sex had caught me by surprise. I’ve read a lot of queer works but never would I have thought that Delany’s short story would be so progressive for it’s time. It was published in the 60’s, WHAT?!?!? That’s INSANE! I'm just wondering how he got Aye and Gomorrah published duirng a time when homosexuality was looked down upon.
I believe that this short story was very much an experimental piece. Spacers, neudered, androgynous people who are rendered sexless, and Frelks, people who are sexually attracted to Spacers, is such a strange concept, though its not very surprising. As somone who is on the Asexual spectrum, more specifially Gray-Asexual, I’ve been confronted with implications of this concept today. Much like Frelks, I have had ‘friends’ in the past who had been very adamant in creating sexual relationships with me. It was VERY uncomfortable and I had to constantly remind them that it is extremely hard for me to have an emotional connection towards them, even harder, a sexual attraction with them. I am not opposed to sex, I just have to be super confortable around someone before even considering the possiblity of having sex with someone. Chances are SLIM. Plus, I only romantically prefer females so that only subtracts from the amount of people on this planet that I would actually fall in love with. UGHGH, typing all this out has made me realize how complicated of a person I am. I’m gonna die alone. Anyway, enough about my cringy personal experiences with sex. Back to talking about the short story.
I really enjoyed reading Aye and Gomorrah. I admire how it explores and tests the social norms and constructs of the past, as well as, of today. Reading Aye and Gomorrah made me wish that today's world was more accepting of a person's gender, sexuality, sexual preference, ect. The world needs more compassion, less judgment. Overall, reading Aye and Gomorrah this week gave me a sense of Delany’s work; his signature. I’m not a big sci-fi fan but it was a nice change of pace for me. Aye and Gomorrah has made me consider reading more of his work.
ALSO, I've never read the novel Fahrenheit 451 but I was able to watch Francois Truffaut’s film, Fahrenheit 451(1966), this week. I saw that it was one of the recommended films for this week and I was able to find a free version of it online. It takes place in a dystopian future, which I LOVE, and I really loved the heartfelt message that it conveys; teaching readers that the power of knowledge conquers over government censorship.
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Here are some other ‘Narratives from the Multiverse’ readings/shows/movies/etc. that I like:

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