Andrea wrote:
>Perhaps it does, but is there a better choice?
>
>Le Guin asserts that the proper place for the hero is the epic, or at
>least not the novel, where s/he can be propped up on a pedestal in a
>directed, linear narrative. The novel, she argues, is a collection of
>relationships that can only be distorted by the presence of a hero.
>
>I'm not sure. With a looser definition of hero as simply a human ideal,
>a respected or respectable actor in society, the novel might be considered
>the ideal place to discuss the hero and his/her relation to society. I
>don't think the hero has to be one-dimensional or universal. At least I'm
>writing a thesis that discusses some very different sf protagonists as
>heroes, most of whom do not follow the classical, linear model. The women
>I'm writing about quest for wholeness and autonomy, not "the bagging of
>the goods," except in the most metaphorical sense.
>
>Maybe the hero and heroism simply need to be re-defined. I can't be sure
>that the women I'm writing about are, on some objective scale, heroic, but
>if they are, they are constructing a more varied heroic. (btw, I'm
>writing on Heinlein's _Friday_, Butler's _Parable of the Sower_, Piercy's
>_Woman on the Edge of Time_, Piercy's _He, She, and It_ [heroes w/o
>heroic narrative], Tepper's _The Gate to Women's Country [heroic narrative
>w/o a hero], and Russ's _The Female Man_ and Cadigan's _Fools_ as
>fragmented heroes.)
>
>Any thoughts on how we might define the female hero? Could she, or should
>she, ever follow the classical/traditional model (of
>departure-initiation-return, mysterious and illustrious birth,
>dragon-slaying, threshold-crossing, etc.)?
>
>Does sf propose a different female hero, do you think, than society or
>mainstream lit?
>
>Questions I'm wrestling with :)
>
>Andrea Klein
>alklein@wesleyan.edu
hmmm... you've obviously thought this through much more than I... ((I write
email in the middle of the night with my newborn attached to me,
breastfeeding, like some alien parasite; though I feel quite the modern
feminist (call me cyberboob), there's something about babycare that makes
me into a blithering idiot.))
first of all, i'm wondering if women can become better heroes through sf
because it is, after all, another world altogether... a world where, just
perhaps, there hasn't been male domination (etc..).
but, first, i must go back and try to define what hero means to me. and
the word, i'm afraid, has never felt like something i could attach myself
to -- because it seems male. hero is someone who saves the day. mighty
mouse. superman. and the means by which these people (?) save the day,
conquer evil, and destroy the bad guy, is usually through violence and,
sometimes, machinery.(of course women are violent, too... but you know what
i mean.) hero's are the ones who went out and attacked the big animal,
brought it back to the group to feed. Le Guin, in her essay "The Carrier
Bag of Fiction," shows that our culture has developed from the
hunter-gatherer society: women were usually the gatherers, and men,
hunters. Unfortunately, she shows, stories about gathering oats were
overshadowed by the stories of Ooom Ooom who wrestled the beast using
technicalities and group planning. this was the story we heard. it was
male, violent, and of the hero.
the hero is the one who tries to get the most stuff-- and i can see ties to
our medeivial world of kings and rings: the one with the most land and
biggest mead hall wins. aka: the one who rapes and pillages and has the
most sons wins. the hero story seems to be one of possession -- of
materials and beings. (Tom Gardner's _Grendel_ comes to mind).
so, yes: science fiction -- or speculative fiction (as it need not include
science/technology/progress) -- seems to be the perfect arena for creating
a new kind of woman-of-strength. women-that-are-admirable-by-other-women.
who, then, in this genre do i admire? who seems to be a good "hero" to me?
the woman in Le Guin's _Tehanu_.... the young woman main character in
Delaney's _Neveryona_ ... the women in _Always Coming Home_ ...
how would i then define the female hero? simply as a woman i'd like to be
for a day. a female character who could, perhaps, wear a
brass-nursing-bra. a female character who knows that we don't have to sit
on big daddy's lap to be feminist: that a strong woman might be one who
does not want to play the male game of climbing the ceo ladder... a female
hero would be strong of her own right, rather than being measured on a
male's scale. a woman who has choices, and makes the nifty ones.
because of our history (HIS), to break out of what binds us is more easily
accomplished on another planet altogether. so sf is a good place. but not
the only place. i love jane eyre... i love mamaday, sula, their eyes were
watching god, the woman behind the wallpaper in yellow wallpaper, sylvie in
housekeeping...
i think i love these women "heros" because they made nifty choices in
complicated worlds.
hmm.
big goofy perplexed smile
- 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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