Following the tide of slightly-overdue-introductions-after-a-few-posts:
If I remember correctly, I discovered this list when it was posted on the
Society for Women in Philosophy discussion list. I teach political theory
and feminist theory at the University of South Florida, which is in Tampa
(and for those of you who know anything about Florida geography, no, there
isn't a University of Really South Florida). I also currently co-edit
_Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy_. My "fun" reading consists
almost exclusively of feminist science fiction, but actually work and play
aren't so separate since I think sf is essentially another form of
political theory.
As for how I got here, I remember reading things like the Narnia Tales, A
Wrinkle in Time, and eventually Asimov's Foundation series as a kid, but
didn't discover feminist science fiction until I got to UC Santa Cruz in
the early 80's and met a friend who had taken a class on it from Donna
Haraway the year before. Though I practically begged Donna to teach it
again before I graduated, alas it was not to be. Still, my friend fed me
novels all year long, and when she left I realized my source was gone and
it was high time to start my own collection. Following common academic
practice, my solution to not getting to take a course in feminist science
fiction was to teach one at my earliest opportunity.
My all time favorite feminist "utopia" remains Woman on the Edge of Time;
I would move to Mattappoissett in two seconds flat. Other favorite novels
include The Female Man, Native Tongue, A Door Into Ocean, some of
Tiptree's stories, Cry Wolf (by Aileen La Tourette), The Kin of Ata (by
Dorothy Bryant), and virtually anything by Le Guin, especially The
Dispossessed and The Eye of the Heron. Recent (to me) discoveries include
The Fifth Sacred Thing, The City, Not Long After (by Pat Murphy),
Mindplayers (by Pat Cadigan), and Le Guin's 2 latest collections of
stories. At least one recurring theme one might notice from this list is
that of violent vs. nonviolent resistance to oppression; the question of
*how* to "change reality" without reinstalling violence and domination
continues to fascinate me.
Quick aside to Susan Palwick: after reading about it on this list, I
recently read Kim Antieau's The Jigsaw Woman, which deals with abuse, and
at least to my mind had some echoes of what has been called multiple
personality disorder, of course one not uncommon survival strategy for
abuse survivors.
Sign me another somewhat long-winded academic type--
--- Cheryl Hall Department of Government & International Affairs University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33620 ph:(813) 974-0819 fax:(813) 974-0832
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:07:06 PDT