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From: mhs@lanl.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: feminist sf/fantasy
Message-ID: <32032@lanl.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 17-Oct-85 22:37:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: lanl.32032
Posted: Thu Oct 17 22:37:23 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 20-Oct-85 08:04:27 EDT
References: <4052@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Lines: 33

> From: Caro.PA@Xerox.ARPA
> 
> Here are my favorites:
> 
> * The Screwfly Solution, James Tiptree Jr.
> For a man, Tiptree sure writes strong female characters well.  I also
> enjoy the upbeat endings that his novels always have.
> 
> * Witch World, etc., by Andre Norton
> Another male writer who espouses feminist views.  His female characters
> are also very well written.
> 
> * A Spell For Chameleon, The Source Of Magic, Castle Roogna, etc., Piers
> Anthony
> I've found Piers Anthony to be an author who, unlike many others, has no
> problem at all with feminist doctrine.
> 
> * Titan, Wizard, Demon, John Varley
> Again, strong female characters.  A friend of mine pointed out that, "To
> Varley, a woman can only be a strong character if she is a Lesbian."
> 
> Others have suggested that John Norman's Gor series treat women in a
> radically different way than most other authors, but I haven't had a
> chance to read any of those books.

James Tiptree Jr and Andre Norton are women.  The Gor series doesn't
treat women in radically different ways: it views them as objects.
Certainly Tiptree's gender and Norman's views have been discussed
in the net before.  I always thought that James Schmitz's women were
capable people.  Try "The demon breed" or the books about Telzey
Amberdon -- "The lion game" and "A tale of two clocks" are two of
them, I think, but I can't vouch for the titles.  But if you want
explicit feminist doctrine, you won't get it in these books.