Jeffrey D. Smith (1)

I have to give this five stars because even though it's messy and (because of the nature of the thing) necesssarily frustrating, it's an important document that is unlike anything else.

In 1974 a science fiction fan started a letters-based Symposium on Women in Science Fiction, at a time when the second wave women's movement in the US was at its height and science fiction was becoming a tool for feminist authors to imagine possible futures. He wrote to some of the biggest names in feminist sf and almost immediately insulted everybody. Yet somehow it went on for seven months. This is the edited result of that, with added commentary from its reprinting in 1993.

Apparently the original letters are lost, which is heartbreaking. It would be more interesting to see how these conversations play out in full and in chronological order. The way it's laid out, by topic, means that you can read somebody's reaction to something BEFORE you read that something, or things are referenced that were edited out of someone else's letter so you have no idea what the reference means. This version includes internal references to page numbers that I assume were from the first layout (for example, someone says they disagree with what Suzy McKee Charnas says on page 51, but Charnas isn't included on page 51). This happens a few times.

However, none of that really matters (just included for the sake of those who can't abide such confusion). This is a group of people attempting to be honest with themselves and others and miscommunicating and misunderstanding and trying to set it straight and often failing. The inclusion of James Tiptree, Jr., pen name of Alice Sheldon who kept her real identity hidden, creates some fascinating cognitive dissonance in readers who know who that person really is who's making everyone mad at the seeming old man.

My sentences are getting convoluted just trying to talk about it. If you are interested in feminism or sf or feminist sf or people trying to talk about important issues, I recommend this (if you can stand the layout).… (mer)

This compilation of short stories and articles reminds me of what science fiction should be - an exploration of the possibilities of life. I wanted to say that my favorite story was Dearth by Aimee Bender about a single woman's surprise gift of potatoes. It was both matter of fact and poignant. I've just discovered Bender and plan to read all of her I can.

Then I need to say that Little Faces by Vonda McIntyre is my favorite in all the ways it explores gender possibilities - adults are women (or ships) and their companions, males with their little effective penises and gnashing teeth, live within them.

But it could be that Eleanor Arnason's Knapsack Poems is the favorite. A person, one of the goxhat, is composed of both intertwined and interacting bodies, some separated physically but all acting as one person. The main character, an itinerant poet is composed of male, female and neuter parts though some other goxhat are all female or all male after their differing sexes die or are killed. She shows that the persons who are all one sex tend to be vicious from lack of balance. And there's a baby.

Liking What you See: A Documentary by Ted Chiang explores the possibility of a device that disables one's ability to judge whether or not a person is good looking and its development during the time that advertisers have managed to amplify the desirability of their spokes people.

James Tiptree Jr.'s The Girl Who Was Plugged In follows a poor, ugly woman as she becomes a virtual Lindsay Lohan. It's the powerful linchpin of the whole series.

The non fiction articles are Shame by Pam Noles which explores race in science fiction and The Future of Female: Octavia Butler by Dorothy Allison in which Allison takes Butler to task for her continuing presentation of female characters who chose to give up their own freedom in order to promote the welfare of children. It just shows you how harsh Allison (Bastard Out of Carolina) can be if she points out the "softness" of Octavia Butler, one of the most pessimistic science fictions writers I've read.

Lastly L. Timmel Duchamp's letter to Alice Sheldon shows that Sheldon enjoyed writing as Tiptree and how she missed her anonymity when her sex became known. She worried that when people found out she was a woman they would care less about her writing in itself and more about the personality of the woman who wrote it.

I wish all science fiction could be so illuminating.… (mer)