Holbo: TransPrincess of Mars—Noted
John Holbo: _ 'I'm retooling my science fiction and philosophy syllabus_ https://twitter.com/jholbo1/status/1279623923613614080 and looking for fun examples of classic sf short stories, preferably by 'major' writers (but I'm flexible), that are gender-themed but weirdly boldly-go yet not-go-there about it. Examples are easy to come by. It's harder to find non-examples. Namely, interesting SF that is about gender yet doesn't boldly re-imagine it. (Why would you bother?) But, equally, most classic SF now seems almost comically conventional about gender roles, in retrospect. I'm going to start in 1915, with "Herland" and "Princess of Mars". A feminist utopia. A nostalgic tale of a Confederate former officer, living his best life on Mars. Dejah Thoris is an egg-laying alien. Of course, she's also one hot chick. If it's ok for a dude to have sex with an egg-laying alien, it's a bit hard to see why certain other stuff wouldn't also be ok. Obviously Edgar Rice Burroughs doesn't go there. (That's not the nostalgic fantasy here.)...
So you are saying that APoM is a bold statement that the essence of identity as a woman transcends biological reproductive organs? HeliumWomen are women?
John Holbo: 'You have certainly guessed my riddle! But I hadn't worked out the slogan yet. "HeliumWomen are women!" That is awesome! But, yeah: you frame it one way and 'sex organs don't matter', only gender roles matter, seems like the natural conservative default…
.#noted #sciencefiction #2020-07-05
