>Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 22:13:04 -0400
>From: "Geoffrey D. Sperl" <gamgee@GEOCITIES.COM>
>Subject: The Postman
>it deals with women in intrguing fashions. I don't want to color
>anyone's minds if they haven't read the book, but I would like to discuss what
>everyone (who has read it) thought of this book and the wide range of women
>presented in the piece.
While _The Postman_ is not my favorite Brin novel, I have read just about
everything he is published and believe he does a much better job
undercutting stereotypical gender roles than many authors. In his various
UPLIFT novels, his narrative point of view (third person omniscient) not
only includes humans (male and female), but aliens (male and female and
neuter) and "uplifted" or sentient dolphins and chimpanzees--very
interesting. I saw Brin speak at an SF conference in Seattle (years ago
now), and he was filling in on a feminist panel for Joanna Russ--which led
to some interesting conversation. A book of his that caused some
controversy is HIS look at feminist utopias: _Glory Season_. Overall I
like Brin's work, and have argued that he deals quite seriously with
feminist ideas (although he does criticize the pastoralism and
anti-technology beliefs that the earlier feminist utopias tended to rely on).
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