"Dreamsnake" is considered an exemplar of second-wave feminism in science fiction, which had largely been devoted to masculine adventures prior to a body of science fiction writing by women in the 1960s and 1970s that subverted conventional narratives. McIntyre uses the post-apocalyptic setting to explore a variety of social structures and sexual paradigms from a feminist perspective. By giving female desire a prominent place in the narrative, she explores gender relations in the communities Snake visits. As in McIntyre's later "Starfarers" books, women are depicted in many leadership positions. The archetype of a heroic quest is rewritten: the central figure in "Dreamsnake" is a woman, and the challenges she faces require healing and care, rather than force, to overcome. A conventional fictional pattern of a hero being pursued, or waited for, by a female lover, is reversed, as Arevin follows Snake, who receives his support but does not require rescue. Gender expectations are also subverted through the character of Merideth, whose gender is never disclosed, as McIntyre entirely avoids using gender pronouns, thereby creating a "feminist construct" that suggests a person's character and abilities are more important than their gender. Characters are often introduced with reference to their profession, and later casually revealed to be female, thereby potentially subverting readers' expectations.