Women in speculative fiction
Encyclopedia
Women have always been represented among science fiction
writers and fans. Frankenstein
(1818) by Mary Shelley has been called the first science fiction novel, although women wrote utopian novels even before that, with Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, publishing the first, The Blazing World
, in the 17th century. In fantasy
, the rich heritage of myth, religion and folktales emerged from oral cultures transmitted by both men and women. Early published fantasy was written by and for both genders – for example gothic romances, ghost stories, and similar stories. Other examples of speculative fiction
include utopias and surreal fiction, both of which, again, were written and enjoyed by women as well as men. However, genre science fiction in particular has traditionally been viewed as a genre orientated toward a male readership.
and Gertrude Barrows Bennett
, from the beginning as creators and consumers of science fiction. Despite this the genre had a reputation as being by men for men, or sometimes for boys. A support for this hypothesis is that women did not win SF awards for fiction, like the Hugos
, until the late 1960s. Further the 1966 "Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll" did not list any novels by women and the 1973 "Locus All-Time Favorite Authors Poll" was over 90% male. Of the two women in Locus's poll one, Andre Norton
, had been "gender ambiguous" for many of her readers. This use of ambiguous, or male, names extended to other major female writers of the era like C. L. Moore
and Leigh Brackett
. Women who wrote under their own names, like Zenna Henderson
, initially tended to write more "domestic" material concerning teachers and mothers. A partial exception to this is Katherine MacLean
who wrote sociology and psychology oriented fiction while only rarely using a male name, while Margaret St. Clair
used both a male name and her own with neither by-line necessarily meaning a "domestic" tone.
Eric Leif Davin argues in Partners in Wonder that the reputation is unjustified; that compared to other careers, science fiction was a "safe haven" and unusually accepting of outsiders, including women. Davin reports that only L. Taylor Hansen
concealed her sex in the early years, pointing out that C. L. Moore was hoping to avoid being detected by her job as being a science fiction writer, not trying to conceal her sex. Nevertheless, women writers were in a small minority; during this period almost 1,000 stories published in science fiction magazines by over 200 female-identified authors between 1926 and 1960 were documented, making women writers 10-15% of contributors. His is a minority view, "at odds with the common perception of science fiction".
Unquestionably, however, the advent of second wave feminism in the 1960s, combined with the growing view of science fiction as the literature of ideas, led to an influx of female science fiction writers, and some saw this influx as the first appearance of women into the genre.
In the 1960s and 1970s, authors such as Ursula K. Le Guin
(who debuted in 1963) and Joanna Russ
(who debuted in the 1950s) began to consciously explore feminist themes in works such as The Left Hand of Darkness
and The Female Man
, creating a self-consciously feminist science fiction
.
Three women have been named Grand Master
of science fiction by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
:
for some time, and the Oxford dictionary of science fiction dates the coinage "femfan" (sometimes: "femme fan") to as early as 1944. Leigh Brackett says of the history of women in SF "There always were a certain number of women fans and women readers." Labalestier quotes the editor of Startling Stories
, writing in 1953, as saying "Ten years ago [i.e., 1943] stf fans were practically all male, today with or without benefit of fan activities, a lot of girls and housewives and other members of the sex are quietly reading science fiction and beginning to add their voices to the bable... We honestly never expected such a surge of female women into science fiction," and Silverberg
puts "probably the first appearance of the 'Women in Science Fiction' panel soon to become a fixture of these conventions" as occurring at the 10th World Science Fiction Convention
in 1953; which was also the first World Science Fiction Convention chaired by a woman, author Julian May
.
While science fiction fandom
has been an organized phenomenon for decades—presaging the organized fandoms of other genres and media—the study of science fiction fandom within cultural studies
and science fiction studies
is relatively new. Consequently, assertions about the prevalence of women in fandom are largely anecdotal and personal, and sometimes contradictory. Most prominent among these assertions is the claim that it was the advent of the original Star Trek
television series which brought large quantities of women into fandom. This claim is critically analyzed by Davin, who finds it poorly founded, and cites a long history of female involvement in fandom decades prior to Star Trek; Larbalestier also cites women active science fiction fandom before the late 1960s and early 1970s.
However, females became more visibly present in fandom, and more organized, in the 1970s. The slash
movement among fans began, as far as anyone can tell, with Diane Marchant's publication of the first known Star Trek "Kirk/Spock
" story in Grup #3 in 1974. 1974 also saw the creation of The Witch and the Chameleon
, the first explicitly feminist fanzine
. The fanzine Khatru published a "Women in Science Fiction" symposium in 1975 (one of the "males" who participated was James Tiptree, Jr.). In 1976, Susan Wood
set up a panel on "women and science fiction" at MidAmericon
, the 1976 Worldcon; this ultimately led to the founding of A Women's APA, the first women's amateur press association
. Also in 1976, WisCon
, the world's leading—and for many years, only—feminist science fiction convention and conference was founded: an annual conference in Madison
, Wisconsin
. In turn, as a result of discussions at WisCon, institutions such as the Tiptree Awards
and Broad Universe
arose to address questions of gender in speculative fiction and issues peculiar to women writers of speculative fiction. Some of the same people involved in creating WisCon also founded the feminist fanzine Janus
, which was thrice nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine
(1978–1980).
However, the perception of speculative fiction as mainly a men's genre continues to be widespread. As the inclusion of women within science fiction and fantasy more broadly has become obvious, the specificity of the perception has evolved. For instance, the still widely held view that "science fiction and fantasy are men's genres" has been refined by some to distinguish between science fiction as a genre mainly appealing to men, and fantasy, which is generally seen as being more accommodating to women (some subgenres, particularly urban fantasy
, with female protagonists, and paranormal romance
are seen as being more popular with women than with men). Little formal study has supported any of these distinctions, whether based on readers, writers, or characters.
, has varied widely throughout the genre's history. Some writers and artists have challenged their society's gender norms in producing their work; others have not. Among those who have challenged conventional understandings and portrayals of women, men, and sexuality, there have been of course significant variations.
and gay liberation
movements, and has included strands of the various related and spin-off movements, such as gender studies
and queer theory
.
In the 1970s, a number of events began to focus on women in fandom, professional science fiction, and as characters. In 1974, Pamela Sargent
published an influential anthology, Women of Wonder: Science Fiction Stories by Women, About Women -- the first of many anthologies to come that focused on women or gender rules. Additionally, movement among writers concerned with feminism and gender roles sprang up, leading to a genre of "feminist science fiction including Joanna Russ
' 1975 The Female Man
, Samuel R. Delany
's 1976 Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia
, and Marge Piercy
's 1976 Woman on the Edge of Time
.
The 1970s also saw a vibrant gay liberation movement
, which made its presence known in science fiction, with gay/lesbian and gay/lesbian-friendly panels at conventions and articles in fanzines; gay/lesbian content increasingly present in the fiction itself; the gay/lesbian bookstore "A Different Light", which took its name from Elizabeth A. Lynn
's novel of the same name; and a focus on GLBT issues in the pages of feminist publications.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
writers and fans. Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
(1818) by Mary Shelley has been called the first science fiction novel, although women wrote utopian novels even before that, with Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, publishing the first, The Blazing World
The Blazing World
The Description of a New World, Called The Blazing-World, better known as The Blazing World, is a 1666 work of prose fiction by English writer Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle....
, in the 17th century. In fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, the rich heritage of myth, religion and folktales emerged from oral cultures transmitted by both men and women. Early published fantasy was written by and for both genders – for example gothic romances, ghost stories, and similar stories. Other examples of speculative fiction
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
include utopias and surreal fiction, both of which, again, were written and enjoyed by women as well as men. However, genre science fiction in particular has traditionally been viewed as a genre orientated toward a male readership.
Writers and professionals
There have been women writers, such as Clare Winger HarrisClare Winger Harris
Clare Winger Harris was an early science fiction writer whose short stories were published during the 1920s. She is credited as the first woman to publish stories under her own name in science fiction magazines...
and Gertrude Barrows Bennett
Gertrude Barrows Bennett
Gertrude Barrows Bennett was the first major female writer of fantasy and science fiction in the United States, publishing her stories under the pseudonym Francis Stevens. Bennett wrote a number of highly acclaimed fantasies between 1917 and 1923 and has been called "the woman who invented dark...
, from the beginning as creators and consumers of science fiction. Despite this the genre had a reputation as being by men for men, or sometimes for boys. A support for this hypothesis is that women did not win SF awards for fiction, like the Hugos
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
, until the late 1960s. Further the 1966 "Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll" did not list any novels by women and the 1973 "Locus All-Time Favorite Authors Poll" was over 90% male. Of the two women in Locus's poll one, Andre Norton
Andre Norton
Andre Alice Norton, née Alice Mary Norton was an American science fiction and fantasy author under the noms de plume Andre Norton, Andrew North and Allen Weston...
, had been "gender ambiguous" for many of her readers. This use of ambiguous, or male, names extended to other major female writers of the era like C. L. Moore
C. L. Moore
Catherine Lucille Moore was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, as C. L. Moore. She was one of the first women to write in the genre, and paved the way for many other female writers in speculative fiction....
and Leigh Brackett
Leigh Brackett
Leigh Douglass Brackett was an American author, particularly of science fiction. She was also a screenwriter, known for her work on famous films such as The Big Sleep , Rio Bravo , The Long Goodbye and The Empire Strikes Back .-Life:Leigh Brackett was born and grew up in Los Angeles, California...
. Women who wrote under their own names, like Zenna Henderson
Zenna Henderson
Zenna Chlarson Henderson was an American science fiction and fantasy novella and short story author, and an elementary school teacher.-Biography:...
, initially tended to write more "domestic" material concerning teachers and mothers. A partial exception to this is Katherine MacLean
Katherine MacLean
Katherine Anne MacLean is an American science fiction author best known for her short fiction of the 1950s which examined the impact of technological advances on individuals and society.-Profile:...
who wrote sociology and psychology oriented fiction while only rarely using a male name, while Margaret St. Clair
Margaret St. Clair
Margaret St. Clair was an American science fiction writer, who also wrote under the pseudonyms Idris Seabright and Wilton Hazzard....
used both a male name and her own with neither by-line necessarily meaning a "domestic" tone.
Eric Leif Davin argues in Partners in Wonder that the reputation is unjustified; that compared to other careers, science fiction was a "safe haven" and unusually accepting of outsiders, including women. Davin reports that only L. Taylor Hansen
L. Taylor Hansen
L. Taylor Hansen was a science fiction writer and anthropologist who used a male writing persona for the early part of her career...
concealed her sex in the early years, pointing out that C. L. Moore was hoping to avoid being detected by her job as being a science fiction writer, not trying to conceal her sex. Nevertheless, women writers were in a small minority; during this period almost 1,000 stories published in science fiction magazines by over 200 female-identified authors between 1926 and 1960 were documented, making women writers 10-15% of contributors. His is a minority view, "at odds with the common perception of science fiction".
Unquestionably, however, the advent of second wave feminism in the 1960s, combined with the growing view of science fiction as the literature of ideas, led to an influx of female science fiction writers, and some saw this influx as the first appearance of women into the genre.
In the 1960s and 1970s, authors such as Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
(who debuted in 1963) and Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny...
(who debuted in the 1950s) began to consciously explore feminist themes in works such as The Left Hand of Darkness
The Left Hand of Darkness
The Left Hand of Darkness is a 1969 science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. It is part of the Hainish Cycle, a series of books by Le Guin all set in the fictional Hainish universe....
and The Female Man
The Female Man
The Female Man is a feminist science fiction novel written by Joanna Russ. It was originally written in 1970 and first published in 1975. Russ was an avid feminist and challenged sexist views during the 1970s with her novels, short stories, and nonfiction works...
, creating a self-consciously feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction which tends to deal with women's roles in society. Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the unequal political and...
.
Three women have been named Grand Master
Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award
The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is an award given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. It is awarded to a living author for lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy. Officially, it is not a Nebula Award though it is awarded at the Nebula ceremony...
of science fiction by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, or SFWA is a nonprofit association of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. It was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight under the name Science Fiction Writers of America, Inc. and it retains the acronym SFWA after a very brief use of the SFFWA...
:
- Andre Norton (1984)
- Ursula K. Le Guin (2003)
- Anne McCaffreyAnne McCaffreyAnne Inez McCaffrey was an American-born Irish writer, best known for her Dragonriders of Pern series. Over the course of her 46 year career she won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award...
(2005)
Fans
Females have been active in science fiction fandomScience fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
for some time, and the Oxford dictionary of science fiction dates the coinage "femfan" (sometimes: "femme fan") to as early as 1944. Leigh Brackett says of the history of women in SF "There always were a certain number of women fans and women readers." Labalestier quotes the editor of Startling Stories
Startling Stories
Startling Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1955 by Standard Magazines. It was initially edited by Mort Weisinger, who was also the editor of Thrilling Wonder Stories, Standard's other science fiction title. Startling ran a lead novel in every issue;...
, writing in 1953, as saying "Ten years ago [i.e., 1943] stf fans were practically all male, today with or without benefit of fan activities, a lot of girls and housewives and other members of the sex are quietly reading science fiction and beginning to add their voices to the bable... We honestly never expected such a surge of female women into science fiction," and Silverberg
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
puts "probably the first appearance of the 'Women in Science Fiction' panel soon to become a fixture of these conventions" as occurring at the 10th World Science Fiction Convention
10th World Science Fiction Convention
The 10th World Science Fiction Convention was held on Labor Day weekend from August 30 - September 1, 1952 at the Morrison Hotel in Chicago, Illinois...
in 1953; which was also the first World Science Fiction Convention chaired by a woman, author Julian May
Julian May
Julian May is an American science fiction, fantasy, horror, science and children's writer who also uses several literary pseudonyms, best known for her Saga of Pliocene Exile and Galactic Milieu Series books.- Background and early career :Julian May grew up in Elmwood Park, Illinois, a suburb of...
.
While science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
has been an organized phenomenon for decades—presaging the organized fandoms of other genres and media—the study of science fiction fandom within cultural studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
and science fiction studies
Science fiction studies
This article is about the field of science fiction studies. For the journal of the same title, please see Science Fiction Studies.Science fiction studies is the common name for the academic discipline that studies and researches the history, culture, and works of science fiction and, more broadly,...
is relatively new. Consequently, assertions about the prevalence of women in fandom are largely anecdotal and personal, and sometimes contradictory. Most prominent among these assertions is the claim that it was the advent of the original Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
television series which brought large quantities of women into fandom. This claim is critically analyzed by Davin, who finds it poorly founded, and cites a long history of female involvement in fandom decades prior to Star Trek; Larbalestier also cites women active science fiction fandom before the late 1960s and early 1970s.
However, females became more visibly present in fandom, and more organized, in the 1970s. The slash
Slash fiction
Slash fiction is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on the depiction of romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex...
movement among fans began, as far as anyone can tell, with Diane Marchant's publication of the first known Star Trek "Kirk/Spock
Kirk/Spock
Kirk/Spock, also commonly referred to as "K/S" and referring to James T. Kirk and Spock from Star Trek, is a pairing popular in slash fiction, possibly the first slash pairing according to Henry Jenkins. Early on, a few fan writers started speculating about the possibility of a sexual relationship...
" story in Grup #3 in 1974. 1974 also saw the creation of The Witch and the Chameleon
The Witch and the Chameleon
The Witch and the Chameleon was a Canadian science fiction fanzine published from 1974-1976 by Amanda Bankier in Hamilton, Ontario. It is generally recognized as the first explicitly feminist fanzine....
, the first explicitly feminist fanzine
Science fiction fanzine
A science fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day...
. The fanzine Khatru published a "Women in Science Fiction" symposium in 1975 (one of the "males" who participated was James Tiptree, Jr.). In 1976, Susan Wood
Susan Wood (science fiction)
Susan Joan Wood Susan Joan Wood Susan Joan Wood (August 22, 1948-November 12, 1980 was a Canadian author, critic, and science fiction fan, born in Ottawa, Ontario.Wood discovered science fiction fandom while she was studying at Carleton University in the 1960s. Wood met fellow fan Mike Glicksohn of...
set up a panel on "women and science fiction" at MidAmericon
34th World Science Fiction Convention
The 34th World Science Fiction Convention was named MidAmeriCon and was held in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, 2–6 September 1976, at the historic Radisson Muehlebach Hotel and nearby Phillips House hotel. The convention committee was chaired by Ken Keller, who had also chaired the "KC in '76" bid...
, the 1976 Worldcon; this ultimately led to the founding of A Women's APA, the first women's amateur press association
Amateur press association
An amateur press association is a group of people who produce individual pages or magazines that are sent to a Central Mailer for collation and distribution to all members of the group.-Organisation:...
. Also in 1976, WisCon
WisCon
Wiscon or WisCon, the Wisconsin Science Fiction Convention, is often called the world's leading feminist-oriented science fiction convention and conference. It was first held in Madison, Wisconsin in February 1977, and is held annually throughout the four day weekend of Memorial Day...
, the world's leading—and for many years, only—feminist science fiction convention and conference was founded: an annual conference in Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. In turn, as a result of discussions at WisCon, institutions such as the Tiptree Awards
James Tiptree, Jr. Award
The James Tiptree, Jr. Award is an annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February of 1991 by science fiction authors Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler, subsequent to a discussion at WisCon.- Background...
and Broad Universe
Broad Universe
Broad Universe is a United States-based, all volunteer organization with the primary goal of promoting science fiction, fantasy, and horror written by women. Writers, editors, publishers, reviewers, artists, and fans are invited to join them. "Broad-minded" men are welcome to participate...
arose to address questions of gender in speculative fiction and issues peculiar to women writers of speculative fiction. Some of the same people involved in creating WisCon also founded the feminist fanzine Janus
Janus (science fiction magazine)
Janus ISSN 0197-775X was a feminist science fiction fanzine edited by Janice Bogstad and Jeanne Gomoll in Madison, Wisconsin, and closely associated with that city's science fiction convention, WisCon It was repeatedly nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine ; this led to accusations...
, which was thrice nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine
Hugo Award for Best Fanzine
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
(1978–1980).
However, the perception of speculative fiction as mainly a men's genre continues to be widespread. As the inclusion of women within science fiction and fantasy more broadly has become obvious, the specificity of the perception has evolved. For instance, the still widely held view that "science fiction and fantasy are men's genres" has been refined by some to distinguish between science fiction as a genre mainly appealing to men, and fantasy, which is generally seen as being more accommodating to women (some subgenres, particularly urban fantasy
Urban fantasy
Urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by place; the fantastic narrative has an urban setting. Many urban fantasies are set in contemporary times and contain supernatural elements. However, the stories can take place in historical, modern, or futuristic periods...
, with female protagonists, and paranormal romance
Paranormal romance
Paranormal romance is a sub-genre of the romance novel. A type of speculative fiction, paranormal romance focuses on romance and includes elements beyond the range of scientific explanation, blending together themes from the genres of traditional fantasy, science fiction, or horror...
are seen as being more popular with women than with men). Little formal study has supported any of these distinctions, whether based on readers, writers, or characters.
Gender
The portrayal of women, or more broadly, the portrayal of gender in science fictionGender in science fiction
Gender has been an important theme explored in speculative fiction. The genres that make up speculative fiction , science fiction, fantasy, supernatural horror and related genres , have always offered the opportunity for writers to explore social conventions, including gender, gender roles, and...
, has varied widely throughout the genre's history. Some writers and artists have challenged their society's gender norms in producing their work; others have not. Among those who have challenged conventional understandings and portrayals of women, men, and sexuality, there have been of course significant variations.
Influence of political movements
The study of women within science fiction in the last decades of the 20th century has been driven in part by the feministFeminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
and gay liberation
Gay Liberation
Gay liberation is the name used to describe the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement of the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s in North America, Western Europe, and Australia and New Zealand...
movements, and has included strands of the various related and spin-off movements, such as gender studies
Gender studies
Gender studies is a field of interdisciplinary study which analyses race, ethnicity, sexuality and location.Gender study has many different forms. One view exposed by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said: "One is not born a woman, one becomes one"...
and queer theory
Queer theory
Queer theory is a field of critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of LGBT studies and feminist studies. Queer theory includes both queer readings of texts and the theorisation of 'queerness' itself...
.
In the 1970s, a number of events began to focus on women in fandom, professional science fiction, and as characters. In 1974, Pamela Sargent
Pamela Sargent
Pamela Sargent is an American, feminist, science fiction author, and editor. She has an MA in classical philosophy and has won a Nebula Award. She wrote a series concerning the terraforming of Venus that is sometimes compared to Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, but predates it...
published an influential anthology, Women of Wonder: Science Fiction Stories by Women, About Women -- the first of many anthologies to come that focused on women or gender rules. Additionally, movement among writers concerned with feminism and gender roles sprang up, leading to a genre of "feminist science fiction including Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny...
' 1975 The Female Man
The Female Man
The Female Man is a feminist science fiction novel written by Joanna Russ. It was originally written in 1970 and first published in 1975. Russ was an avid feminist and challenged sexist views during the 1970s with her novels, short stories, and nonfiction works...
, Samuel R. Delany
Samuel R. Delany
Samuel Ray Delany, Jr., also known as "Chip" is an American author, professor and literary critic. His work includes a number of novels, many in the science fiction genre, as well as memoir, criticism, and essays on sexuality and society.His science fiction novels include Babel-17, The Einstein...
's 1976 Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia
Triton (novel)
Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia is a science fiction novel by Samuel R. Delany. It was nominated for the 1976 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and was shortlisted for a retrospective James Tiptree, Jr. Award in 1995...
, and Marge Piercy
Marge Piercy
Marge Piercy is an American poet, novelist, and social activist. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Gone to Soldiers, a sweeping historical novel set during World War II.-Biography:...
's 1976 Woman on the Edge of Time
Woman on the Edge of Time
Woman on the Edge of Time is a novel by Marge Piercy. It is considered a classic of utopian "speculative" science fiction as well as a feminist classic.-Plot summary:...
.
The 1970s also saw a vibrant gay liberation movement
Gay Liberation
Gay liberation is the name used to describe the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement of the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s in North America, Western Europe, and Australia and New Zealand...
, which made its presence known in science fiction, with gay/lesbian and gay/lesbian-friendly panels at conventions and articles in fanzines; gay/lesbian content increasingly present in the fiction itself; the gay/lesbian bookstore "A Different Light", which took its name from Elizabeth A. Lynn
Elizabeth A. Lynn
Elizabeth A. Lynn is a US writer most known for fantasy and to a lesser extent science fiction. She is particularly known for being one of the first writers in science fiction or fantasy to introduce gay and lesbian characters; in honor of Lynn, the GLBT bookstore "A Different Light" took its...
's novel of the same name; and a focus on GLBT issues in the pages of feminist publications.
See also
- Gender in speculative fiction
- Feminist science fictionFeminist science fictionFeminist science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction which tends to deal with women's roles in society. Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the unequal political and...
- Sex and sexuality in speculative fiction
- Reproduction and pregnancy in speculative fiction
- Lesbianism in science fiction
- James Tiptree, Jr. AwardJames Tiptree, Jr. AwardThe James Tiptree, Jr. Award is an annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February of 1991 by science fiction authors Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler, subsequent to a discussion at WisCon.- Background...
- Broad UniverseBroad UniverseBroad Universe is a United States-based, all volunteer organization with the primary goal of promoting science fiction, fantasy, and horror written by women. Writers, editors, publishers, reviewers, artists, and fans are invited to join them. "Broad-minded" men are welcome to participate...
Further reading
- Index to Female Writers In Science Fiction, Fantasy & Utopia: 18th Century to the Present
- Badami, Mary Kenny. "A Feminist Critique of Science Fiction," Extrapolation 18 (Dec. 1978), pp. 6–19.
- Larbalestier, Justine. The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction. Wesleyan University Press, Middleton, Connecticut, 2002.
- Merrick, Helen. "From Female Man to Feminist fan: Uncovering 'Herstory' in the Annals of SF Fandom." in Women of Other Worlds: Excursions through Science Fiction and Feminism, edited by Helen Merrick and Tess Williams, University of Western Australia Press: Nedlands, 1999: pp. 115–139.
- -- The Secret Feminist Cabal: A Cultural History of Science Fiction Feminisms. Seattle: Aqueduct Press, 2009. ISBN 978-1-933500-33-1