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vcmwY'know, I love Bookslut, but their SpecFic Floozy book reviews are just useless to me, as whoever it is that is doing their reviews Doesn't Share My Taste At All.
Examples:
This person (adult presumably) still loves Heinlein novels despite the, y'know, blatant oozing sexism and sexual creepiness of basically all the later ones.
Heinlein's image of what a smart woman should be was very scarring to my development: while I still enjoy his short stories and might someday re-read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, "To Sail Beyond the Sunset" was pretty scarring, and so was "Time Enough for Love". All that sex with one's own parents/children, etc. Really quite twisted stuff. Memorably, intriguingly twisted, but still.
Of course, I'm enough of a knee-jerk feminist that as I age I'm starting to struggle with Theodore Sturgeon too. And he's a GENIUS writer, an absolute genius. I've read Godbody at least ten times. And probably half of his short story output.
Sturgeon's women are inarguably people (unlike Heinlein's), but the problem is, they don't have agency. When a woman in a Sturgeon story Does Stuff, it's almost always to do with Some Man. Which is odd, because his young female characters (the kids) do seem to have agency. I dunno, maybe it was just his time period, or the genre he wrote in? They're beautiful complex female characters, but they don't seem to have their own private lives and urges and stuff. They exist in relation to men. It's noticeable over time.
I find this, personally, to be the case in Spider Robinson books too, though thankfully he's got a lot of short stories where the women are sorta non existent, and these have aged for me better. I mean, as a teen these are three authors who I loved with passion (Robinson, Sturgeon, Heinlein). But at 26, I can't do it.
This Bookslut person doesn't like Elizabeth Moon or Elizabeth Bear (based on a combined review of Hammered and Trading in Danger I just reread). This despite liking swashbuckling girl stories, they say. I can't imagine quite what they would like. Maybe Jirel of Joiry? I liked Jirel of Joiry though, so maybe not. I think this person is looking for Ron Howard ish stuff, but with girls as the main character. Very Red Sonja in Space.
Bookslut in general I quite like, but their take on sf/fantasy, not so much. Ditto for the graphic novels.
I dunno: recently I've been reading almost exclusively female authors, I've realized. Because I can, and because it's less of a mental struggle for me. There are so many great women writers in romance, paranormal romance, comics, fantasy, science fiction - very few authors I still follow are male. I think the weird little differences spring out at me. Right now, I'm not sure there's a single author who I reflexively buy who's male.
Because I can't think of a male author whose women are consistently motivated by and act on things that have nothing to do with sexual relationships with men. Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of women characters dealing with relationships with men. But I want to believe that the woman has a life apart from that, that she has a career and friendships with other women and personal thoughts and a life philosophy. Do men just not have a chance to observe these things? Have I been reading the wrong male authors? Is it some weird conspiracy by which women are hiding all this from men, and that's why the men don't see it and don't write about it? What is it?
Oddly, this isn't bothering me as much in comics, where the sexism is mostly visual. I don't process visual information very well, so I can still enjoy X-Men without wondering constantly while all the women look like exaggerated Playboy pinups with wasp waists and helium hooters.
*shrug* Much confusion on my part. I'm starting to wonder if I'd still enjoy other favorite books from pre-adolescence, and thinking maybe I'll avoid re-reading them so I don't have to find out.
I loved Robert SIlverberg's Star of Gypsies a lot, but I'm not so sure. And the last time I read Harlan Ellison I got that same feeling about the girls in his stories. Maybe it's better to stick with the memories, which were about the keen-o stories.
Anyone got any suggestions of male authors who have women characters who've got some darned agency? I'm starting to feel sexist about my reading habits.
btw: agency =/= running around in tight outfits killing men because daddy did her wrong. I only swallow that plot in comic book form for the cool looking fight scenes.
Examples:
This person (adult presumably) still loves Heinlein novels despite the, y'know, blatant oozing sexism and sexual creepiness of basically all the later ones.
Heinlein's image of what a smart woman should be was very scarring to my development: while I still enjoy his short stories and might someday re-read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, "To Sail Beyond the Sunset" was pretty scarring, and so was "Time Enough for Love". All that sex with one's own parents/children, etc. Really quite twisted stuff. Memorably, intriguingly twisted, but still.
Of course, I'm enough of a knee-jerk feminist that as I age I'm starting to struggle with Theodore Sturgeon too. And he's a GENIUS writer, an absolute genius. I've read Godbody at least ten times. And probably half of his short story output.
Sturgeon's women are inarguably people (unlike Heinlein's), but the problem is, they don't have agency. When a woman in a Sturgeon story Does Stuff, it's almost always to do with Some Man. Which is odd, because his young female characters (the kids) do seem to have agency. I dunno, maybe it was just his time period, or the genre he wrote in? They're beautiful complex female characters, but they don't seem to have their own private lives and urges and stuff. They exist in relation to men. It's noticeable over time.
I find this, personally, to be the case in Spider Robinson books too, though thankfully he's got a lot of short stories where the women are sorta non existent, and these have aged for me better. I mean, as a teen these are three authors who I loved with passion (Robinson, Sturgeon, Heinlein). But at 26, I can't do it.
This Bookslut person doesn't like Elizabeth Moon or Elizabeth Bear (based on a combined review of Hammered and Trading in Danger I just reread). This despite liking swashbuckling girl stories, they say. I can't imagine quite what they would like. Maybe Jirel of Joiry? I liked Jirel of Joiry though, so maybe not. I think this person is looking for Ron Howard ish stuff, but with girls as the main character. Very Red Sonja in Space.
Bookslut in general I quite like, but their take on sf/fantasy, not so much. Ditto for the graphic novels.
I dunno: recently I've been reading almost exclusively female authors, I've realized. Because I can, and because it's less of a mental struggle for me. There are so many great women writers in romance, paranormal romance, comics, fantasy, science fiction - very few authors I still follow are male. I think the weird little differences spring out at me. Right now, I'm not sure there's a single author who I reflexively buy who's male.
Because I can't think of a male author whose women are consistently motivated by and act on things that have nothing to do with sexual relationships with men. Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of women characters dealing with relationships with men. But I want to believe that the woman has a life apart from that, that she has a career and friendships with other women and personal thoughts and a life philosophy. Do men just not have a chance to observe these things? Have I been reading the wrong male authors? Is it some weird conspiracy by which women are hiding all this from men, and that's why the men don't see it and don't write about it? What is it?
Oddly, this isn't bothering me as much in comics, where the sexism is mostly visual. I don't process visual information very well, so I can still enjoy X-Men without wondering constantly while all the women look like exaggerated Playboy pinups with wasp waists and helium hooters.
*shrug* Much confusion on my part. I'm starting to wonder if I'd still enjoy other favorite books from pre-adolescence, and thinking maybe I'll avoid re-reading them so I don't have to find out.
I loved Robert SIlverberg's Star of Gypsies a lot, but I'm not so sure. And the last time I read Harlan Ellison I got that same feeling about the girls in his stories. Maybe it's better to stick with the memories, which were about the keen-o stories.
Anyone got any suggestions of male authors who have women characters who've got some darned agency? I'm starting to feel sexist about my reading habits.
btw: agency =/= running around in tight outfits killing men because daddy did her wrong. I only swallow that plot in comic book form for the cool looking fight scenes.
