Barbara Nelson <Bbacon1@AOL.COM> wrote:
>I have been following this group with great interest for the past two months.
> I am an under grad student at Cal. State Fullerton with an American Studies
>major and Womens Studies minor. I am writing a paper in connection with an
>upper division writing class in the AMST department. The topic I chose was
>"Women in Science Fiction, Reflection or Prediction?" I am using the Dune
>series by Frank Herbert and the Dragon Riders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey as
>the means to explore this topic. I am interested in the thoughts of this
>group on the topic.
Herbert and McCaffrey seem odd choices. _Dune_ is about messianism; it's
explicitly about social/psychological extremes. McCaffrey's dragon stories
simply got away from her. The original Analog novella (novelette? I can
never keep them straight) allowed her to base a good career on more and
more of the same. At a minimum, I would suggest taking the original story
more seriously than the parade of sequels, and definitely include her
earlier sf ("A Womanly Talent" comes to mind).
>My hypothesis at this point is that Herbert's women reflect society and warn
>of taking things to an extreme. Bene Gesserit control their bodies but are
>forbidden to love and Bene Tleilaxu females have no control and are reduced
>to functioning as axotl tanks.
Perhaps the largest commonality the two share is that one smash hit gave
them narrow careers producing interminable sequels. Herbert's primary
concern throughout his career was ecology.
Neil Rest
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