Responding to the question about sf novels for a course in gender
and technology, here are some titles that might be worth
considering:
The first one that springs to mind is "Trouble and Her Friends"
by Melissa Scott; this was published only a few years ago and I
am sure the paperback edition is still in print. It's a cyperpunk story
set about 100 years in the future. Trouble is a young woman who
supports herself doing semi-legal computer security jobs using
more or less illegal neural implants. The virtual reality passages
of the book are pretty stunning and, in addition to having a lesbian
main character, there are additional reflections on gender in the
form of observations about how women of both orientations,
gay men, and minority men and women make up most of the net
"underground" and are the only people willing to use the effective-
but-dangerous brain implants.
A couple of other suggestions that might fall under the heading of
anti-technology, or critiques of the technological society:
"Into the Forest" by Jean Hegland (maybe spelled Heglund?) - just
published by Calyx Books, and I hear a mainstream publisher has
purchased the rights. Takes place in the near future. Two teenage
sisters living outside a remote rural town in Northern California
have only each other to depend on as American society begins to
collapse under the weight of social problems and excessive
consumption of natural resources.
"The Ragged World" and "Time, Like an Ever-Rolling Stream" by
Judith Moffet - twenty years or so into the future, alien visitors
come to Earth and decide human beings ought not to be trusted
with a planet of their own, since we're destroying the one we have,
and so begin to take control of most aspects of material existence,
including agriculture, manufacturing, and reproduction, to force
human society to adapt to more responsible use of the Earth's
resources. As I recall, gender roles of the various characters are
not given a great deal of attention, but it would be interesting to
see if the differing philosophies regarding care of the Earth are
associated with "traditionally" male or female qualities.
Best of luck with your course.
--Ruth Ann Jones
rujones@delphi.com
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