On Mon, 14 Apr 1997 14:29:48 -0500 Michael Marc Levy wrote:
>
> I taught The Female Man last semester in a course on science fiction and
> gender. Also did books or stories by LeGuin, Slonczewski, Bujold, Charnas,
> Arnason, Tiptree, Heinlein, Piercy, Griffith, C.L.Moore, McCaffrey, Delany,
> etc.
>
> Of all the stories we read, The Female Man was clearly the least
> successful, at least in terms of class participation. Most of the
> students hated it and/or were totally confused by it. In part this was
> simply because the novel is complex and hard to follow, but many felt
> that it was dated, that too many of its literary and historical allusions
> were obscure because they were so clearly tied to the 60s and 70s.
>
> I'd be interested to hear from others who have taught this book. Did you
> have a similar experience? Did you find successful avenues into the text?
Yes, but keep trying. each time I teach it I receive different reactions and there is
always at least one person who is so overwhelmed by it that it makes up for the
other hostility.
>
> It might be worth mentioning that in a poll conducted at the end of the
> class the most popular stories were 1) McCaffrey's "The Ship Who Sang,"
> 2) Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time, 3) Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh
> Mistress, 4 LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness, and 5) Griffith's
> Ammonite tied with Bujold's Ethan of Athos. The McCaffrey and Heinlein
> stories, of course, were in there to show old-fashioned, sexist attitudes.
> Surprise!
Are you attempting any sort of historicity? If so, Heinlein's Beyond this Horizon or
The Menace From Earth still manages to be a lot less sexist that McCaffery and
truly radical for its period. Give Heinlein a fair chance! And try Tiptree's The
Screwfly Solution or Houston Houston Do You Read.
Farah.
>
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