Hi, Neil; I devoured all of Heinlein's books as a kid and, while
I agree with your points that his juvenile books aren't particularly
sexist, I certainly wouldn't call them revolutionary for girls by
today's standards. By the standards of the time, the female roles
were VERY progressive. Of course, we're talking the 50's, maybe the
60's, here...
Plus, as you mention, almost all of the protagonists were boys.
Not that there is anything particularly wrong with this (there have
been lots of feminist sf stories with men as main characters), but in
Heinlein's juvenile books even the most capable females are still in
the "help the hero" role -- the hero being a boy.
All I know is that I read and re-read Podkayne of Mars as a
pre-adolescent, not because it was the best of Heinlein's jv novels,
but because the main character was a GIRL! I was also mesmerized by
the fact that her mom, a scientist, didn't have to carry the babies to
term. That was the first time I ever read anything discussing
child-bearing as a non-absolute, but I digress...
Still, Neil, thanks for your comments. I think the library has
all of Heinlein's jv novels already.
Neil wrote:
Don't underestimate the Heinlein juveniles. Not too long ago, I ran
into a
copy of _Citizen of the Galaxy_, remembered how I'd been struck by it
when
I read it once, decades ago, and picked it up.
While the protagonist is male, there are clear, easily swallowed
lessons
about intellectual, emotional and moral maturing, and pointed
observations
about the silliness of sexism and ethnocentrism. (I'm not sure the
word
"sexism" had been coined when the book was written, but for one
interval,
the boy lives in a matriarchal culture, and later is in one where the
men
running things can't imagine women being competent to do Real,
Important
things -- clearly making those men look foolish. And one of the
twists in
the final resolution has the hero being saved by the disciplined
efforts of
the sheltered rich girl he ends up pairing with.
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