Sex is a Battlefield

Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction, Justine Larbalestier

A must-read for feminist fans of science fiction, this is a well-conceived, well-researched and well-written exploration of issues of gender, femininity, masculinity, sex and sexuality within (primarily North American) science fiction – not just the body of work identified as science fiction, but also the people who write it and the committed consumers (fans) of it.

Larbalestier has described the processes and events that led her to write on this topic. The book's genesis lies in an article by Joanna Russ, “Amor Vincit Fœminam: The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction,” in which Russ discusses 10 science fiction stories published in the U.S. between 1926 and 1973, all of which, as Larbalestier states, are “explicitly about the ‘sex war’ between men and women and which posit as a solution to this conflict that women accept their position as subordinate to men. Many of the battle-of-the-sexes texts are overtly anti-feminist, and frequently comically so.”

With Russ’ critical essay as a starting point, and the figure of James Tiptree Jr. as an overarching image of the question of gender in SF, Larbalestier examines novels, short stories, and the history of fandom (through letters to the editor, memoirs, interviews and other material located in the course of her research), looking at how science fiction has dealt with gender, sex and sexuality:

I have concentrated on the same period but have broadened my study to include many texts not examined by Russ: those that fit her rubric as well as others that posit a range of different ‘solutions’ to the battle of the sexes, including characters that are neither male nor female but hermaphroditic. I then take the discussion further, from the formation of the James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award in 1991, to the year 2000.

Larbalestier organises her analysis by themes, with each chapter bearing a title from on of James Tiptree Jr.’s short stories. Beginning with a look at the foundations of SF, she begins with, and then moves out from the subject of Russ’ original essay to look at the multiplicity of ways that the issue of gender relations and meanings have been presented and discussed in North American SF:

* Stories where men assert or re-assert dominance over “rebellious” women or women who live without relying/depending/drawing their meaning from men.
* Stories where there is a kind of “equality” granted to women by men, but women’s main role remains that of “love interest.”
* Stories where women live without men and get along quite well, thank you, until some man comes into the picture – such as Russ’ own liminal text, “When It Changed.”
* Stories where there is no sex or gender difference, or at least not permanently, including Ursula LeGuin’s brilliant The Left Hand of Darkness.
* Stories of change, when women writers and women fans and women characters finally existed in sufficient numbers with sufficient impact to alter the early perceptions and assumption within SF.
* Stories of and by and for feminists and queers and other people who choose to look at new ways of presenting and performing gender.

In addition to Larbalestier’s careful and thoughtful analysis, it’s the wealth of references, all the stories – some of them classics that any SF reader knows, others little-remarked or long-forgotten – that make this so much worth reading. It is, I think, a rare and extraordinarily well-read fan who will not find a reference to some author, some text, that they’ve never heard of, and now find a desire to read because of Larbalestier’s analysis.

There is also a great deal of information about gender issues in fandom, and it is also well worth reading – such as, for instance, this revealing passage from a letter to the editor of Startling Stories written in 1939 by a young Isaac Asimov.

There is a great deal of significant, I think, in the fact that the four stories of the September issue of Startling Stories did not contain a single female character. Of course, I would be the last to claim that all females be abolished. Women, when handled in moderation and with extreme dignity, fit nicely in scientifiction at times. However, the September issue goes to prove that good stories can be written even with the total absence of the weaker sex.

Lots to learn, lots to enjoy, lots to think about.