From LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Fri Sep 10 19:38:10 1999
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 20:50:09 -0500
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To: Laura Quilter <lauraq@EXPLORATORIUM.EDU>
Subject: File: "FEMINISTSF-LIT LOG9908D"

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Date:         Thu, 26 Aug 1999 09:59:48 -0700
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From:         Joyce Jones <hoop5@EMAIL.MSN.COM>
Subject:      BDG Wild Seed

August is almost over, hard to believe.  But one last thought about
hopelessness and Wild Seed.  I was thinking of the movie Brazil.  Even
though at the end the main character is almost certainly doomed, he still
has hope of rescue, so much so that it appears that he escapes--at least in
spirit.  Yes Tepper has some pretty outrageous methods for ending her books
on an upbeat, but I wonder if she's saying that we have to have hope for
change, even if the method is not one we can see in our everyday lives right
now.  I'm thinking of Gibbons Decline and Fall, (I loved those old ladies).
I don't think she's saying that civilization is without hope unless we're
rescued by anthropomorphic reptiles.  Maybe she's just saying there is hope,
but we have to be more creative in finding solutions. For all the creativity
evidenced in Wild Seed, there was no evidence of a creative solution to
patriarchal domination.

Joyce
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Date:         Fri, 27 Aug 1999 14:56:35 GMT
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From:         Robin Reid <Robin_Reid@TAMU-COMMERCE.EDU>
Subject:      favorite feminist moments in sf/f
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Things seem to have slowed down a bit on the list, so I thought I'd toss in
a conversation starter.  On another list I'm on, people have been sharing
their favorite 'moments' in sf--the real mind-blowing amazing ones in both
stories, books, and films.  Amazingly enough, she says sarcastically, just
about all those moments are from works by male authors (except for a few
mentions of LeGuin, and I think a few of us threw in Tepper).

So, I thought we could share some of our favorite 'reading' moments in
feminist sf/f--those amazing moments of satori (a knowing something about
the whole world, a feeling of connection), of enlightenment (where you see
something about the universe you've never seen before), of epiphany (sorta
the same thing only involving more self knowledge), of just WOW.

I'll start:  my first amazing MOMENT was when I read Joanna Russ' story in
the Ellison AGAIN DANGEROUS VISIONS anthology, first line (from memory so I
may not be exact), "Katie always drives too fast" or something like that.
(The story for those who don't know it is about the first time Men come to
an all-female society/planet, Whileaway, the same place Russ used later in
THE FEMALE MAN.)

There I was, about 13 or so, in Idaho, having read all or mostly all male sf
writers for almost a decade.  And I was, in truth, on another planet in
another way of being.

I was reading on the steps of the WPA brownstone library that's surrounded
by gorgeous big leafy trees on a corner in Moscow that I could probably find
with my eyes closed.  It was a sunny afternoon, probably spring or early
summer, because the air temperature was just perfect (no need for a coat,
but not too hot, the sort of day where you sort of become one with the air).

For me that was a moment I now call my first step into conscious feminism
though I would not learn the word "feminism" for many years, or let's say, I
didn't associate what I was feeling with what the media presented as "feminism."

Another planet, and I've been much happier for the time I've spent on Whileaway.

Care to share some of your favorite feminist moments?

Robin
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Date:         Fri, 27 Aug 1999 11:14:16 -0400
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From:         Emily Patrick <emland@MAYA.LIB.UTK.EDU>
Subject:      Re: favorite feminist moments in sf/f
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On Fri, 27 Aug 1999, Robin Reid wrote:

> I'll start:  my first amazing MOMENT was when I read Joanna Russ' story in
> the Ellison AGAIN DANGEROUS VISIONS anthology, first line (from memory so I
> may not be exact), "Katie always drives too fast" or something like that.

That story also appears in the Kindred Spirits anthology of G&L science
fiction. I just read it for the first time, and loved both the story and
her comments preceding it. It's the first time I've read any of her
writing, for some reason.

- emily
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Date:         Fri, 27 Aug 1999 10:49:47 -0500
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From:         Todd Mason <Todd.Mason@TVGUIDE.COM>
Subject:      Re: favorite feminist moments in sf/f
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-----Original Message-----
From: Robin Reid [mailto:Robin_Reid@TAMU-COMMERCE.EDU]
Subject: [*FSFFU-LIT*] favorite feminist moments in sf/f

Care to share some of your favorite feminist moments?

Robin

Well.  I skipped around in AGAIN, DANGEROUS VISIONS when I first picked it
up, and didn't get around to reading "When It Changed" for years, but I read
Kate Wilhelm's "The Funeral" rather early on, and that certainly had an
effect--it was not the first simultaneously women's and youth liberation
story I read, I think, but it was one of the more devastating.  As a regular
reader of the magazines from 1978 on, and simultaneously seeking out such
items as Judith Merril's annual YEAR'S BESTs from the '50s and '60s as I
could find them, and similarly the BEST FROM FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTIONs, I
read a fair amount of mindblowing stuff from Kit Reed and John Varley back
when, among others including Le Guin.  I remember finding "Houston, Houston,
Do You Read?" by Alice "James Tiptree, Jr." Sheldon about as annoying as R.
Bretnor's misogynist "humorous" Papa Schimmelhorn stories of the mid-'70s
(some of the earlier ones were genuinely funny), for I already had firsthand
experience of lack of greater nobility of any group I'd encountered; but I
could see the bitter humor in the Sheldon, as opposed to the bitterness
masquerading as humor in the Bretnor.  Reading the feminist writers outside
the field, not least because of Russ's reviews of the likes of Shulamith
Firestone's work in F&SF, struck many chords of recognition, and I was
certainly quite impressed by Russ's honesty and humanity in THE FEMALE MAN.
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 27 Aug 1999 09:16:28 -0700
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From:         Lyla Miklos <lylamiklos@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: favorite feminist moments in sf/f
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Hello everyone!

I just wanted to gush about a hilarious novel I just finished the other
day.
It is called "Bimbos From The Death Sun" by Sharyn McCrumb. If you have
ever gone to a sci-fi con or are into SF, SCA, D&D, gaming, Star Trek,
or any other genre related activity you will hurt yourself from
laughing so hard.

The basic set-up is there is a sci-fi con where a very Harlen-esque
sci-fi writer is murdered.

I loved it!
Give it a gander.

Lyla


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com
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Date:         Sat, 28 Aug 1999 02:50:22 +1000
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From:         Julieanne <jalc@OZEMAIL.COM.AU>
Subject:      Re: favorite feminist moments in sf/f
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At 14:56 27/08/99 GMT, Robin Reid wrote:

>So, I thought we could share some of our favorite 'reading' moments in
>feminist sf/f--those amazing moments of satori (a knowing something about
>the whole world, a feeling of connection), of enlightenment (where you see
>something about the universe you've never seen before), of epiphany (sorta
>the same thing only involving more self knowledge), of just WOW.

On another posting list I'm on, someone asked a similar question about
experiences of our first recognition, or even interest in, 'feminism' in
our lives. Many posters responded with that feeling of WOW

For me, it was reading Jo Clayton's Diadem series of sci-fi novels through
my teen years, starting from about 13 or so. It was the first time I had
ever read about a truly amazing, strong and vibrant and *real* woman
character - Aleytys. In the first book, she is barely 15 & her mother had
deserted her as a toddler. Curious about why her mother left, she re-traces
the last months of her mother's life before she disappeared.
Aleytys learns that she had been born as a product of the rape & abduction
of her Immortal ( Vryhh) mother.
On top of the shock of learning that she was probably Immortal, she chooses
to get pregnant....and cross the planet on foot to reach the only way of
getting off-planet... and whole heaps of other stuff:)

I guess it was one of my first glimpses of the idea that women really could
*do* anything:)
Aleytys was my first "role model" I guess (for want of better words) , so
it stands out as a satori/enlightenment/epiphany/WOW kind of favourite
moment in feminist sci-fi for me:)

Julieanne
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Date:         Fri, 27 Aug 1999 11:46:29 -0500
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From:         Todd Mason <Todd.Mason@TVGUIDE.COM>
Subject:      Sharyn McCrumb: Myklos
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She's also written another humorous fannish mystery, ZOMBIES OF THE GENE
POOL, and a number of horror-flavored mysteries set in Appalachia, such as
SHE WALKS THESE HILLS.

-----Original Message-----
From: Lyla Miklos [mailto:lylamiklos@YAHOO.COM]
Subject: Re: [*FSFFU-LIT*] favorite feminist moments in sf/f


Hello everyone!

I just wanted to gush about a hilarious novel I just finished the other
day.
It is called "Bimbos From The Death Sun" by Sharyn McCrumb.
The basic set-up is there is a con where a very Harlan-esque
writer is murdered.
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 27 Aug 1999 17:04:58 GMT
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From:         Robin Reid <Robin_Reid@TAMU-COMMERCE.EDU>
Subject:      Re: favorite feminist moments in sf/f
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Emily wrote:

>That story also appears in the Kindred Spirits anthology of G&L science
>fiction. I just read it for the first time, and loved both the story and
>her comments preceding it. It's the first time I've read any of her
>writing, for some reason.


Wow--if you plan to go on and read any of her other stuff, I'd love to talk
about it.  Whenever somebody reads a favorite writer of mine for the first
time and likes it, I get all envious thinking about the JOYS of discovery...

robin
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Date:         Fri, 27 Aug 1999 13:36:28 -0500
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From:         N Clowder <clowder@MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU>
Subject:      [*FSSFU-LIT*] Favorite feminist moments
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Favorite feminist moments -

Thanks for a fun question, Robin.  I'm surprised to find that some of the
books that rearranged the world for me, giving it a more feminist slant than
it had had before, are not necessarily my favorite books.

Marion Zimmer Bradley scores twice:
"Thendara House," because it was the first time I encountered lesbians in
science fiction/fantasy and I was thrilled to find them.
"The Mists of Avalon" because, for the first time, I really internalized a
picture of a society/social order centered around a female deity.  The book
provided a foundation for visualizations that have evolved ever since (and
evolved away from the this-is-really-lovely-too-bad-it's-doomed tone of Mists).

Karen Joy Fowler "Sarah Canary" - this was a mind bender because of the way
it used an historical perspective to show how bizarre our (human's,
society's) beliefs can be.  The feminist part(among many feminist elements)
was the character Sarah Canary, a complete enigma, onto whom people
projected their beliefs about women.  A great lesson about how we see what
we want to see when we look at others...

Suzy McKee Charnas "The Furies" - after the female ex-slaves return to their
homeland, conquer it, and subdue the men (their former masters), one of the
men (Eykar) realizes that the Important Question now is NOT what will happen
in the relationship between men and women, but what will happen in the
relationships among the women themselves.  He was absolutely right, and I
had been going along assuming, as Eykar had, that the important thing to
work out was the hetero-gender relationships.  This brought me up short in a
powerful way and showed me something about my own thinking - a lesson I've
never forgotten.

Ursula Le Guin "Tehanu" - I almost didn't mention this one because it is so
hard to say what it is I value about it.  Le Guin reaches here for a
definition of "women's magic" (for lack of a better word) - and somehow she
builds up a picture of an intuitive understanding of the world...a picture
of something that is not easily captured in words....she evokes a different
kind of thinking/knowing than the verbal/rational/discursive kind of knowing
that defines most modern (patriarchal? male-centric?) world views.  The book
is particularly dear to me when I think of it as the culmination of the
Earthsea trilogy, because the groping, heroic efforts of Tenar (and of the
author) to discover and (re)claim and validate a female world view can be
traced from book to book...because the development occuring in the series
itself (as well as in the character Tenar) illustrates the very process of
growth we all (as feminists) strive to realize in our own lives...while at
the same time the de-heroification of Ged (the male protagonist of the
earlier Earthsea books) is handled with complete compassion...Gagh!  This is
hard to explain...

Like Mists of Avalon, Tehanu opens up for me another realm full of
mysterious womanly possibilities - but this realm is even harder to
visualize clearly than the mist-shrouded Isle of Bradley's creation.


Nell Clowder
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Date:         Fri, 27 Aug 1999 19:52:13 +0100
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From:         Lesley Hall <lesleyah@PRIMEX.CO.UK>
Subject:      Re: favorite feminist moments in sf/f
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>I just wanted to gush about a hilarious novel I just finished the other
>day.
>It is called "Bimbos From The Death Sun" by Sharyn McCrumb.

There is an equally entertaining sequel, 'Zombies of the Gene Pool'.
McCrumb's non-genre relevant crime fiction is also highly recommended.
Lesley Hall
lesleyah@primex.co.uk
website http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah
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Date:         Fri, 27 Aug 1999 19:40:18 GMT
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From:         Robin Reid <Robin_Reid@TAMU-COMMERCE.EDU>
Subject:      another favorite moment
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Another favorite moment/memory is when the news about James Tiptree,
Jr./Alice Sheldon came out.  I had been reading his work with great
interest, ignoring all the fannish debate about the writer's gender.  Got
the first novel (?)  UP THE WALLS OF THE WORLD (highly recommended by the
way) and a collection of short stories.  The short stories had an essay by
Robert Silverberg in which he tried to put the rumors to rest by claiming
that Tiptree's writing style was "ineluctably masculine" (not, he hurried to
say that masculine is superior, just different--after all Ernest hemingway
could not write like Jane Austen and vice versa).

And voila, the picture of the author on the back of the novel was of a woman!

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Though the fallout was quite depressing for Tiptree/Sheldon, I gather, which
is sad.

But I treasure that moment and often tell the story.

*happy sigh*

Robin
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Date:         Fri, 27 Aug 1999 14:53:55 -0500
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From:         Todd Mason <Todd.Mason@TVGUIDE.COM>
Subject:      Re: "Tiptree": Reid
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Also slightly amusing was the contention by Harlan Ellison that Tiptree was
the "man to beat" for the big short story awards after "his" contribution to
AGAIN, DANGEROUS VISIONS, with other bits in the story's introduction about
the masculinity of "his" prose, there, as well (as I recall it).  I do think
UP was her first published novel.  From her interview with Charles Platt in
DREAM MAKERS II, it seemed to me that her "outing" was less depressing to
her than somewhat disturbing--that fans-of-sorts were Staking Out Her PO Box
(which is to say, stalking her) couldn't have helped--because she liked to
control the extent of her public persona (I understand she was a gregarious
congoer, and had begun publishing as "Racoona" Sheldon, her everyday
nickname, by the time of the announcement).  The lingering illness of her
husband seems to have been much more depressing, and of course she killed
herself after euthanizing him.

-----Original Message-----
From: Robin Reid [mailto:Robin_Reid@TAMU-COMMERCE.EDU]
Another favorite moment/memory is when the news about James Tiptree,
Jr./Alice Sheldon came out.  I had been reading his work with great
interest, ignoring all the fannish debate about the writer's gender.  Got
the first novel (?)  UP THE WALLS OF THE WORLD (highly recommended by the
way) and a collection of short stories.  The short stories had an essay by
Robert Silverberg in which he tried to put the rumors to rest by claiming
that Tiptree's writing style was "ineluctably masculine" (not, he hurried to
say that masculine is superior, just different--after all Ernest hemingway
could not write like Jane Austen and vice versa).

And voila, the picture of the author on the back of the novel was of a
woman!

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Though the fallout was quite depressing for Tiptree/Sheldon, I gather, which
is sad.

But I treasure that moment and often tell the story.

*happy sigh*

Robin
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Date:         Fri, 27 Aug 1999 18:00:04 -0700
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From:         Laura Quilter <lquilter@IGC.APC.ORG>
Subject:      changes
Comments: To: feministsf-lit@uic.edu
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couple of quick changes.  (1) i shortened the subject header from
*fsffu-lit* to *fsf-l* to allow more space for subjects to show (2) well
that was really the only change - but i'll be a bit out of reach till 9/1
so everybody play nice till then - if someone needs to get off the list
and has problems please help them *off* the list.  thanks all for being great

ps - the list was locked and i'ts unlocked now - sorry

Laura Quilter / lquilter@igc.apc.org

"If I can't dance, I don't want to be
in your revolution."  -- Emma Goldman

*** NEW TRIAL FOR MUMIA ABU-JAMAL ***
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Date:         Fri, 27 Aug 1999 21:11:02 -0400
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From:         Terri <terriergraphics@CYBERTOURS.COM>
Subject:      Re: [*FSFFU-LIT*] Sharyn McCrumb: Myklos/Todd
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McCrumbs most recent, The Ballad of Frankie Silver
is beautiful. A bit of legend, non fiction, mystery,
and fantasy all woven together, paralleling two
lifetimes. SMc made Frankie Silver, and her tragedy
come alive for me. I highly recommend it.
Terri




>She's also written another humorous fannish mystery, ZOMBIES OF THE GENE
>POOL, and a number of horror-flavored mysteries set in Appalachia, such as
>SHE WALKS THESE HILLS.
>
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Date:         Sat, 28 Aug 1999 10:50:37 -0700
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From:         Lindy <laorka@MEER.NET>
Subject:      Ozark Fantasy Trilogy
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Hey!  What's this I hear about Suzette Elgin Hadin's Ozark Fantasy
Trilogy coming up for republication?  Has anyone read any of these three
books? (_Twelve Fair Kingdom's_, _And Then There Will be Fireworks II
and III_?)

I was searching for copies of her _Native Tongue_ series and came upon
this welcome information.

Thanks,

Lindy
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Date:         Sat, 28 Aug 1999 20:09:56 GMT
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From:         Robin Reid <Robin_Reid@TAMU-COMMERCE.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Ozark Fantasy Trilogy
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I haven't heard anything about it, but fantastic news if it is!

They are INCREDIBLE.

Pplus, there's a fourth set on the planet when Coyote Jones (from her
earlier series) visits.

Cross your fingers!!

robin

At 10:50 AM 08/28/1999 -0700, you wrote:
>Hey!  What's this I hear about Suzette Elgin Hadin's Ozark Fantasy
>Trilogy coming up for republication?  Has anyone read any of these three
>books? (_Twelve Fair Kingdom's_, _And Then There Will be Fireworks II
>and III_?)
>
>I was searching for copies of her _Native Tongue_ series and came upon
>this welcome information.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Lindy
>
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Date:         Sat, 28 Aug 1999 14:40:52 -0700
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From:         SMCharnas <suzych@SOCRATES.NMIA.COM>
Subject:      Re: [*FSFFU-LIT*] BDG Wild Seed
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Joyce wrote:

>August is almost over, hard to believe.  But one last thought about
>hopelessness and Wild Seed.
>Tepper has some pretty outrageous methods for ending her books
>on an upbeat, but I wonder if she's saying that we have to have hope for
>change, even if the method is not one we can see in our everyday lives right
>now.
>Maybe she's just saying there is hope,
>but we have to be more creative in finding solutions.

I think she's saying there are solutions, but we have to have the sheer
grit and bloody-mindedness to carry them through, "we" often being women;
in other words, if you leave it to men it will not happen (judging by the
historical record so far, this is not a far-fetched conclusion), and be-
cause the women generally start from a one-down position, the actions
required of them are a good deal more extreme than those that men, who are
one-up, could take if they chose to do so.
        In the abstract, pretty sensible; but in reality, Butler seems to
be much closer to the truth: nobody does *anything* until we're in total
crisis, and when solutions are tried, they are generally the ones chosen
and ineptly imposed by masculine authorities.

Suzy Charnas
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 28 Aug 1999 14:40:55 -0700
Reply-To:     Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC
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Sender:       Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC
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From:         SMCharnas <suzych@SOCRATES.NMIA.COM>
Subject:      Re: [*FSFFU-LIT*] [*FSSFU-LIT*] Favorite feminist moments
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Nell Clowder wrote:

>Karen Joy Fowler "Sarah Canary" - this was a mind bender because of the way
>it used an historical perspective to show how bizarre our (human's,
>society's) beliefs can be.  The feminist part(among many feminist elements)
>was the character Sarah Canary, a complete enigma, onto whom people
>projected their beliefs about women.

This whole book just blew me away.  It's as if Karen is writing some sort of
Secret History of America (I felt that way about SWEETHEART SEASON, too).
Me, I have to move everything to the next millenium or another planet to be
able to deal with it, but I have a picture of Karen just digging where she
happens to be standing, and turning up the lost underside of all our assump-
tions.  I forgot to mention the brick tower built by the black man in SWEET-
HEART; one of those moments, too.
>
>Suzy McKee Charnas "The Furies" -  (snip)(Eykar) realizes that the
>Important >Question now is NOT what will happen
>in the relationship between men and women, but what will happen in the
>relationships among the women themselves.  He was absolutely right, and I
>had been going along assuming, as Eykar had, that the important thing to
>work out was the hetero-gender relationships.  This brought me up short in a
>powerful way and showed me something about my own thinking - a lesson I've
>never forgotten.

You know, this is why I think we do these things, and one of the "hows":
I had to develop and live a while with this charac-
ter so that he could come to a point where he could show me something I had
no other way to see -- sort of like, er, moving to another millenium or an-
other planet to gain a viewpoint fresh enough to yield insight (to the author,
by the way, as well as the reader -- I had the same sensation you describe
as a reader when "his" thought first wrote itself out on the screen in front
of me): a sense of shock about my own previous assumptions, and what they
meant.
>
>Ursula Le Guin "Tehanu" - I almost didn't mention this one because it is so
>hard to say what it is I value about it.

Again, me too -- I felt that this book was an admirable acknowledge-
ment, after a passage of time, that the original trilogy was sexist at
its core, and an attempt to set things if not right, then at least into a
different, more mature perspective.  Kind of like when Ursula did that essay
about the causes and effects of using masculine pronouns as the default
setting for her Winter people.  A standard of honesty is set, regardless of
how fully the goal itself is achieved, that puts all serious writers on
their mettle.  Just another of the little things that LeGuin has done (my
other favorite being the recipe for "food soup" in the first Tiptree cook-
book . . . )

Suzy
