It's interesting that, in a book that goes so far to break out of gender relations as we know them, and which re-defines what male and female mean, we're confronted with a society in which the very different set of gender roles and norms is defined by the inserter of genetic material being highly dominant.
I wouldn't say that the insertion of genetic material is the ooloi's primary duty in the reproductive process. It is far more important than that. It actually designs the genetic code for its offspring, and as an afterthought returns that design to the female's body.
If you're going for making the Ooloi seem male, it seems like the sensory arms would be a better target.
-CZ
What, because they're sort of phallic? Now who's going simplistic? Yes, the Ooloi's role is more important and complicated than inserting genetic material. However, as very aptly demonstrated at the end of Dawn, the Ooloi are the ones who get to say "You're going to have a baby and there's nothing you can do about it." Certainly, that's not as directly rape as the two actual attempted rapes in the book, but it's absolutely equivalent, and the Ooloi are the ones who have that power among the Oankali. This is purely speculation, but how much do you want to bet that the Oankali started out as just Ooloi, and that an early set of genes they picked up was the set creating a gender binary, into which they inserted themselves as dominant?
Yes, because they're kind of phallic. Your point was about insertion, and I figured that phallic imagery would help you out.
"You're going to have a baby and there's nothing you can do about it."
Now that is a far better point, but less directly male. The Ooloi do serve the role of determining birth time (as men did before the advent of birth control in more developed countries, and still do in less developed ones) but it is a subtle, finely tuned, and ultimately stronger dominance than simple penetration. They are dominant, true, but I don't think it is a strictly "male" dominance. If we want to talk stereotypes, I would argue that the Ooloi dominance is more "female" than "male," with its focus on persuasion and manipulation.
But I really don't think that the Ooloi fit gender stereotypes in any sense, and I think that is Butler's most impressive talent. The Oankali are SERIOUSLY alien.
-CZ
So uh...CZ, you're saying that women are inherently persuasive and manipulative and that those are legitimate defining traits that you can use across the board? Fascinating...good luck defending that one in class ~_^
Interesting to highlight, on page 82 Lilith thinks "How much did sex determine personality among the Oankali? She shook her head. Stupid question. She did not know how much sex determined personality even among human beings."
Also, more thoughts this post spawned for me.
Come on, think about it...being manipulative is a stereotypically female trait, regardless of its truth. For one easy example: in Left Hand of Darkness, Genly complains of the double-talking and politicking of his companion as being very feminine. Though I don't want to speak for CZ, I doubt that he would claim this was actually true for all women.
And as Leonia pointed out, it's really not a legitimate way of approaching gender, particularly in a work as sophisticated and complex in that regard as Lilith's Brood. Also, we had massive debate over the use of gender in Left Hand of Darkness, and just because a stereotype exists doesn't mean you should propagate or legitimize it.
At the same time, ignoring the stereotype won't make it go away. I don't think that it's productive to just say "Butler's too good for stereotypes" and leave it at that. I think it would be much more revealing to see how, and if, gender stereotypes appear in characters, how Butler uses her knowledge of cultural stereotypes to subvert and draw attention to the reader's gender constructions, and how perhaps even she falls into the trap of easy gender indicators. As Butler's constructing these beings that are neither male nor female, she has to have these stereotypes in mind in order to ensure that she does not make the ooloi seem too masculine or too feminine, given that most readers will (perhaps unconsciously) attempt to gender them somehow. This isn't propagating or legitimizing anything; rather, it's a way to tear them apart and examine the pieces.