From LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Sat Sep 11 14:27:15 1999 Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 20:50:11 -0500 From: "L-Soft list server at University of Illinois at Chicago (1.8c)" To: Laura Quilter Subject: File: "FEMINISTSF-LIT LOG9908E" ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 22:48:19 -0800 Reply-To: shander@cdsnet.net Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Sharon Anderson Subject: Re: Ozark Mountain Trilogy MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lindy, I have a copy of The Twelve Fair Kingdoms, but have been unable to find the others. If it does come up for republication, I would like to know. ---sharon ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 09:19:50 -0700 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Joyce Jones Subject: Re: Favorite feminist moments I've loved science fiction since I was a teen-ager, with my first book being one my brother had checked out of the high school library 4 years previously and never returned _Martian Chronicles_. I was hooked. But I think the first time a real feminist concept caught my mind came with Ursula LeGuin. I think it was _The Left Hand of Darkness_, but I'm not sure. In this story a woman was crossing a desert, I think, and was under the control of some powerful man who wanted her to "open" to him and bear him a child, and she debated the reasons she should or should not do so. I was just amazed. Even though the woman was his prisoner, she still had complete control over whether or not she would become pregnant. My heart beats a little faster when I contemplate the idea of a woman having such ownership of her own body. Many stories I've read since then reiterate this theme of individual control of her reproductive abilities, Vonda McIntyre's _Dream Snake_ is one that comes to mind, but in my reading, LeGuin was the first. Glory be to her for the concept and may it come to pass. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 10:42:44 -0700 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Lyla Miklos Subject: Re: Favorite feminist moments MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > I think it was _The Left Hand of Darkness_, but I'm > not sure. In this story > a woman was crossing a desert, I think, and was > under the control of some > powerful man who wanted her to "open" to him and > bear him a child, and she > debated the reasons she should or should not do so. > I was just amazed. I don't know which book you are describing, but I'm pretty sure it isn't "Left Hand". Lyla Miklos __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 20:55:47 +0100 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Lesley Hall Subject: Re: Favorite feminist moments MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit . In this story >> a woman was crossing a desert, I think, and was >> under the control of some >> powerful man who wanted her to "open" to him and >> bear him a child, and she >> debated the reasons she should or should not do so. >> I was just amazed. I think this is Vonda McIntyre's short story 'Screwtop' (in _The New Women of Wonder_) set on a prison planet. The man is one of the prison guards and the women a prisoner. Lesley Hall lesleyah@primex.co.uk website http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 17:00:15 -0700 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Sandy Candioglos Subject: Re: Favorite feminist moments MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lesley Hall wrote: > > . In this story > >> a woman was crossing a desert, I think, and was > >> under the control of some > >> powerful man who wanted her to "open" to him and > >> bear him a child, and she > >> debated the reasons she should or should not do so. > >> I was just amazed. > > I think this is Vonda McIntyre's short story 'Screwtop' (in _The New Women > of Wonder_) set on a prison planet. The man is one of the prison guards and > the women a prisoner. > Lesley Hall > lesleyah@primex.co.uk > website http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah That's probably it. I just read that yesterday (it's also in a Tor Double with "the color of Neadrethal Eyes" by Tiptree). The phrase "open to" is a key; that's how it's said in that story. It's not a prison planet, just a prison continent; the actual population of the planet lives on the "north continent". Bearing the jailer a child would have earned her freedom, or at least more comfort, and it was implied that he could force her if he wanted to (I think by drugging her), but he doesn't. -Sandy ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 17:10:23 -0700 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Sandy Candioglos Subject: Re: Favorite feminist moments MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lesley Hall wrote: > > . In this story > >> a woman was crossing a desert, I think, and was > >> under the control of some > >> powerful man who wanted her to "open" to him and > >> bear him a child, and she > >> debated the reasons she should or should not do so. > >> I was just amazed. > > I think this is Vonda McIntyre's short story 'Screwtop' (in _The New Women > of Wonder_) set on a prison planet. The man is one of the prison guards and > the women a prisoner. > Lesley Hall > lesleyah@primex.co.uk > website http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah Sheesh! This is what I get for being drugged up on decongestant and reading too much in one day... "Screwtop" is in a Tor double with "The girl who was plugged in", also by Tiptree, not "the color of neadrethal eyes," as I said in my last mail. *sigh*. -Sandy ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 18:59:57 -0800 Reply-To: shander@cdsnet.net Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Sharon Anderson Subject: Re: Favorite Feminist Classics MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I can't tell you in what order I read them, but these are ones which made me feel affirmed: When It Changed -- Russ The Funeral --Wilhelm Houston, Houston, Do You Read? -- Tiptree The Left Hand of Darkness -- LeGuin Of Mist, Grass and Sand --McIntyre Babel-17 --Delaney (yes, I know it's space opera, but I loved it) ALL of Joanna Russ' books, especially The Two of Them The Shattered Chain and Thendara House --Bradley Year of the Unicorn --Norton The Women Men Don't See --Tiptree Elizabeth Lynn's trilogy all of S. H. Elgin's work those books/stories which made a big impression on me, but of which I have NO memory: San Diego Lightfoot Sue --Tom Reamy Benefits --Zoe Fairbairns The Godmothers --Sandi Hall Accomodation Offered --Anna Livia The Ophiuchi Hotline --John Varley (I"m not sure this is the right one, but I think so) those which I enjoyed, but did not like as much as I " should": Woman on the Edge of Time --Piercy The Wanderground --Gearhart LeGuin's trilogy There are undoubtedly more, but at this moment in time, these are the standouts. ---s ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 21:06:07 -0700 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Dave Samuelson Subject: Re: Ozark Mountain Trilogy Comments: To: shander@CDSNET.NET MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit If anyone's interested, I have Book Club copies of all three for sale (I was planning to give them to the university library, but it already has them). Sharon Anderson wrote: > Lindy, I have a copy of The Twelve Fair Kingdoms, but have been unable to find > the others. If it does come up for republication, I would like to know. > > ---sharon ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 22:04:49 -0700 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Keith Subject: Re: Favorite Feminist Classics Comments: To: Sharon Anderson In-Reply-To: <37C9F3AC.5BF8E8C7@cdsnet.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Sun, 29 Aug 1999, Sharon Anderson wrote: >>many great stories snipped << > > those books/stories which made a big impression on me, but of which I have NO memory: > > San Diego Lightfoot Sue --Tom Reamy I loved this! During that brief period in the United States when women's sexuality was decriminalized, this seemed one of the most egalitarian stories of that egalitarian time. Especially as to what the loss of innocence really means, and what else is lost as well, regardless of sex. Kathleen ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 09:41:05 -0700 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Jessie Stickgold-Sarah Subject: Re: Favorite Feminist Classics In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed I remember reading Elizabeth Lynn's _The Northern Girl_ as a teenager and being stunned and excited by the use of "she" as the indefinite pronoun. It was so incredibly radical. Even now I get a little thrill whenever I see it in technical manuals ("If the user wants to change this value at a later time, she can...") and, naturally, I use it in my writing. I still love that book. (Does everyone know that the entire trilogy has been reissued as an omnibus trade pb called "The Chronicles of Tornor"?) jessie ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 23:08:47 GMT Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: "karen k." Subject: Re: Favorite Feminist Classics Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed the first sf i read where i remember a feminist or gender-conscious viewpoint would have to be ursula leguin - "the left hand of darkness", a few of the stories in "the wind's twelve quarters", "the dispossessed"; also dorothy bryant's "the kin of ata are waiting for you", and joan vinge's "the snow queen". (i stopped reading sf almost cold when i went to college, partly because other priorities came up, but mainly because women, or at least women's voices, were absent from most of the sf i knew; there were certain conventions i perceived in sf and a male, often sexist point of view was one i no longer wanted to deal with. thanks to the wise women and men on this list, i now know what i was missing.) years later i was brought back into the "fold" by joanna russ' "the female man" and the story with abbess radegunde (anyone know title?); sheri tepper, beginning with "gate to women's country"; and nicola griffith's "ammonite". i was also impressed with some of samuel delany's stuff. i guess that the thought experiments that have interested me the most are those that foreground identity and society rather than technology, and that seems to be integral to most of my "feminist sf moments". back into suspended animation. take care. karen k. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 18:29:47 -0500 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Todd Mason Subject: Re: Favorite Feminist Classics: Karen K. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Sounds like you're referring to Joanna Russ's story "Souls," published first (like much of the best feminist sf over the last decades, and some of the most oddly antifeminist, such as Raylyn Moore's) in FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION. Lois Wickstrom's explicitly feminist SF magazine PANDORA toiled along largely unsung in the '70s and into the '80s, I believe...yet another plug for the magazines, yes...certainly GALAXY, AMAZING and ASIMOV'S have had their finer feminist moments, as well, among the sf titles... -----Original Message----- From: karen k. [mailto:jujujuice@HOTMAIL.COM] Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 1999 7:09 PM To: FEMINISTSF-LIT@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Subject: Re: [*FSF-L*] Favorite Feminist Classics (i stopped reading sf almost cold when i went to college, partly because other priorities came up, but mainly because women, or at least women's voices, were absent from most of the sf i knew; there were certain conventions i perceived in sf and a male, often sexist point of view was one i no longer wanted to deal with. thanks to the wise women and men on this list, i now know what i was missing.) years later i was brought back into the "fold" by joanna russ' "the female man" and the story with abbess radegunde (anyone know title?); i guess that the thought experiments that have interested me the most are those that foreground identity and society rather than technology, and that seems to be integral to most of my "feminist sf moments". back into suspended animation. take care.