Does it lead to a rejection of the female or a
>transcendence of gender?
>Qhyrrae Michaelieu
Qhyrrae:
I think, for me, it did neither, thank goodness. I never read Heinlein or
any of the others that are being discussed... but in all the other genres
the problem seemed to be the same: too few strong women. Remarkably, the
first strong women I found were in Sci-Fi... the one's I read in college.
Le Guin's in particular. Especially the women in TEHANU. I also read
Samual Delaney's novels (can't remember the titles right now) and found
myself, there, too. These women seem to be not so much technical, as they
are of old-world-intuition- strong witch-mother types. So it's kinda
strangely nifty that the genre that started from technical ponderings and
progress glorifying (and portraying females as only sex objects) grew into
a genre where women protagonists use/find their strenth from sources,
perhaps stronger, than technology...
also... i wonder about our word "hero." perhaps this word implies too much
of what we are NOT looking for in a female character. (the linear hunt --
the tackle -- the bagging of the goods.) Which reminds me of Le Guin's
essay called "The Carrier Bag of Fiction." There, she writes that novels
are good because they are stories about people -- rather than heroes.
hmmmm....must reread.
-Lissa
elisabeth bloomer sometimes you just gotta eat
instructor, english pancakes for dinner.
virginia tech
blacksburg, va 24061-0112
ebloomer@vt.edu
540.231.2445
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