Science fiction and its subgenres have always flirted with concepts that the other genres found difficult or impossible to grapple with. Due to its ability to use allegories and metaphors that harbour no immediately recognisable symbols or imagery with the existing cultural canons, sci-fi finds a way to critique the contemporary and its issues in ways that are subtle for the audience to correlate with instantly.

One of the seminal works in the sci-fi subgenre of cyberpunk is Shirow Masamune's 1989 manga and its 1995 anime adaptation by Mamoru Oshii, Ghost in the Shell. A poignant meditation on the constitution of human identity, Ghost in the Shell explores a few key aspects of it; memories and the effects of people around reacting to an individual, taking the primary focus. But due to the technological advances as depicted in the narrative, certainly one of the focal points of identity – gender should also be radically different from how we experience it today. But does it? – is the question asked by the authors. This essay will attempt to analyse the film's portrayal of gender and whether it was successful in redefining the same within the context of the narrative of the film and the present at large.

Disposability of Bodies

In 2029 Tokyo exists Major Motoko Kusanagi, a police officer in the Section 9 force; besides retaining some left-over brain-matter, her entire body has been replaced with a cybernetic one. She has no memory of her past or who she was before. To stabilize her from going through severe psychosis and mental breakdowns, she is planted with artificial memories with her awareness and consent. Throughout the film, she contemplates her cybernetic existence and limitations of the human identity she is expected to exist in; she constantly questions her own ghost (a stand-in for soul or mind) and her role in the expansion of a new sentient identity.

In an era when one's self-preservation and every day lived experiences are detached from the biological survival of the body or shells they were born in – where the mind and body are independent of each other; where one can freely modify aspects of their individuality which are tied to their physical state, how does a vital aspect of the identity, gender, fit in? Does it stay the same regardless of the body they reside in, or does the body dictate the back and forth of gender fluidity? Isolating Major's identity from the others and considering the implications of the technology within this universe, which has the ability to change critical aspects of identity, the text speculates the possibility that gender too can be changed. However, that interpretation is complicated by the introduction of Project 2501.

Gendered Ghosts and Thematic Contradictions

The contradictions of socially progressive concepts and an archaic patriarchal language the audience are familiar with can be seen in the character – Project 2501, aka 'The Puppetmaster'. Initially serving as the story's primary antagonist, the Puppetmaster is revealed to be an AI gone sentient during their vast expansion in the NET – a precursor to the internet. By the effort of the government agency behind the creation of the AI, 2501 is forced into a robotic body and is then lost track of. 2501 finds their way to Major, and during the 3rd act, explains that they intend to merge with Major to elevate themselves to a higher life form. Though Major is sceptical at first, they finally merge together as 2501 originally intended.

When the film introduces Puppetmaster halfway through the run-time, they are shown to inhabit a female robotic body. Even though the creator is unable to determine the gender/sex of the entity, they persistently address them as "he". 2501 assumes a masculine voice in a female coded body, further attributing to the fluid nature of the technological being's gender identity.

Just before they merge together, Major questions the motivation of 2501 regarding their union, and they explain that them being unable to change leads to vulnerabilities, and the merging enables them to have the utilitarian function of being able to constantly evolve and mutate to survive; a want to leave behind a legacy through an offspring and ultimately attain death. Further, 2501 and Major consider reproduction as a defining characteristic of a 'life form', attaining that would ultimately prove that they are something more than mere androids (Orbaugh, 2002).

2501 says to Major, "after merging, you will bear my offspring into the NET itself." What is interesting is the language 2501 uses to explain their want. "Bear my offspring" is a very loaded and possessive phrase that is all too common in a patriarchal society – one that is used by a man to claim the offspring as his, thereby ensuring his legacy. On the other hand, it could be argued that it is either due to the current limitations imposed on the language caused by centuries of patriarchal colonisation that such unintended meanings arise or that the patriarchal remnants existing within the authors of both the text and Project 2501 that the Puppetmaster's use of such archaic language survives.

Thus, the film reframes and regresses the socially progressive gendered functions (thereby gender identities) of Major and 2501 to a patriarchal, heteronormative woman and man, respectively.

Conclusion

The subgenre of cyberpunk has better represented the minority experiences, such as the unique lives of trans people, better than any other genre. "The parallels tend to be subtextual, and a lot of the time they were not intended to be read that way" (Maclay, 2017). Though Ghost in the Shell discusses and debates the themes of gender, body, identities and humanity more fruitfully than many of its fellow fictional properties, a reading 25 years after its original release does shine a light on certain pitfalls in the execution of it all. The continued use of patriarchal language disengages the complex social concepts these narratives often explore and advance.

Although the text's attempt to redefine aspects of the identity such as gender and reproduction in a de-sexed world is undoubtedly commendable, it does fall short of its goals due to its inability to detach itself from the patriarchal undertones the former ultimately needs.