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History of Feminism
Related: About this forumAuthor, Feminist, Pioneer: The Unlikely Queen of Sci-Fi
We can go to science fiction for its sense of wonder, its power to take us to far-off places and future times. We can go to political fiction to understand injustice in our own time, to see what should change. We may go to poetry epic or lyric, old or new for what cannot change, for a sense of human limits, as well as for the music in its words.
And if we want all those things at once a sense of escape, a sense of injustice, a sense of mortality and an ear for language we can read the stories of James Tiptree Jr., real name Alice Sheldon.
The daughter of a famous travel writer, Sheldon grew up privileged, eloped and regretted it, then joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps; after World War II she married a career intelligence officer and earned a Ph.D. in psychology. In 1967, at 51, she began sending science fiction to magazines, taking her pseudonym from a marmalade.
Sheldon as Tiptree wrote galaxy-spanning space opera, near-future apocalypse, hip premonitions of cyberpunk, and portraits of truly alien states of mind. Tiptree became known for elegant prose, for unhappy endings, and for sensitivity to women: science fiction stars like Philip K. Dick and Ursula K. Le Guin admired this mysterious man, who hinted that he was a spy.
And if we want all those things at once a sense of escape, a sense of injustice, a sense of mortality and an ear for language we can read the stories of James Tiptree Jr., real name Alice Sheldon.
The daughter of a famous travel writer, Sheldon grew up privileged, eloped and regretted it, then joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps; after World War II she married a career intelligence officer and earned a Ph.D. in psychology. In 1967, at 51, she began sending science fiction to magazines, taking her pseudonym from a marmalade.
Sheldon as Tiptree wrote galaxy-spanning space opera, near-future apocalypse, hip premonitions of cyberpunk, and portraits of truly alien states of mind. Tiptree became known for elegant prose, for unhappy endings, and for sensitivity to women: science fiction stars like Philip K. Dick and Ursula K. Le Guin admired this mysterious man, who hinted that he was a spy.
http://www.npr.org/2013/08/11/193476887/author-feminist-pioneer-the-unlikely-queen-of-sci-fi
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Author, Feminist, Pioneer: The Unlikely Queen of Sci-Fi (Original Post)
ismnotwasm
Aug 2013
OP
Stargazer09
(2,132 posts)1. Well...
I now have a whole bunch of new stories to read.
Thank you for sharing this.
ismnotwasm
(41,968 posts)5. You're welcome
And she's an awesome writer!
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)2. from Shelley to McAfree to Ursula le Guin
Sci fi has had many great lady writers, and may there be a legion more in the wings!
discntnt_irny_srcsm
(18,479 posts)4. Thanks for this
I'm a DC Fontana fan as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._C._Fontana
ismnotwasm
(41,968 posts)6. As usual
An great contribution..
Love everything about this.