Aurora 25 Bogstad & Gomoll 1986-Wi

Home , Jeanne Gomoll, Joanna Russ

Issue No 25 Humor & SF Vol. 10 No 1 Winter 1986-87 ISSN 0275-3715 Issue No 25 Humor & SF Vol. 10 No 1 Winter 1986-87 ISSN 0275-3715

Features Subscription Information 2 In tro d u c tio n : On Femi A th re e -is s u e su b sc rip tio n to Aurora nism, S cience F ic tio n , and Humor Diane M artin Is a v a ila b le fo r $10 w ith in the US, 4 Dear E d ito r ia l Horde (L e tte r s ) You Folks or $13 o u tsid e the US. A ll su b scrip 36 C o n trib u to rs ' G a lle ry Themselves tio n s requested a t former ra te s w ill be c re d ite d a t c u r r e n t r a t e s . An Is s u e returned to you because you Articles f a ile d to n o tify us of your change 7 An Open L e tte r to Joanna Russ Jeanne Gomoll o f address reduces your su b sc rip tio n by one iss u e . 11 Humor In S ta r Trek Susan B a ilie tte 2 Back issu e s of Aurora a re a v a ila b le 4 A B rie f Survey of Women In Comics Hank L u ttr e ll fo r $3.50 each, w ith these ex cep tio n s: Issu e #12/13 o r photocopies Reviews of Joanna Russ’s Books of #s 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 11, and 21 cost $5. Back iss u e s o f WisCon program 13 Ifegic Hamas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans & Perverts Hank L u ttr e ll books 3-10 a re a v a ila b le fo r $2.50 14 Con R eport: A Review o f Joanna R u ss's The Female Man P h ilip Kaveny each. Place a l l o rd ers a t the ad 15 On Strike Against God Ja n ic e Bogstad d ress below. In clu d e $1.50 p er order fo r shipping. 15 The Zanzibar Cat P h ilip Kaveny 15 The Two of Them Diane M artin Why You Got Thia Issue I s s u e s d e liv e r e d by m all have a l e t t e r code on the m ailing la b e l. Other Reviews H ere’s what i t means: C-you c o n trib 16 Rapunzel's Revenge: Fairytales for Feminists A ttic P ress Judy Goldsm ith u te d ; M-you were m entioned o r r e 16 Something Shady by Sarah D reher viewed; R -please review Aurora; S- Diane M artin you sub scrib e and your l a s t issu e is 17 A Feminist Dictionary by C herls Kramarae & Paula A. T re lc h le r in d ic a te d by the num ber; X-some Diane M artin o th e r reaso n . 24 The Needle on Full: Lesbian Feminist Science Fiction by C aro lin e Forbes Publication Information Judy G oldsm ith Aurora is p u blished by the SF Pub 28 Role R e v e rsa ls in 3 New N ovels: Ja n ic e Bogstad lic a tio n s com m ittee. Typing f o r #25 Double Nocturne by C ynth was done by Ja n ic e Bogstad, Michael ia F e lic e DuCharme, Diane M artin, and P eter A Door into Ocean by Joan Slonczew skl Wlnz. Layout by Diane M artin, w ith Ibis by Linda S te e le ad v ise fro® Jeanne Goraoll and a s s i s 29 Barbary by Vonda N. M cIntyre tance by Ja n ice Bogstad, Susan Ko Ja n ic e Bogstad vacs, Hank L u t t r e l l , Laura S p iess, 29 Downtime by C ynthia F e lic e Ja n ic e Bogstad and Martha Stephenson. Other a s s is 30 Age of Wonders by David H artw ell P h ilip Kaveny ta n c e by P h ilip Kaveny and John 3 Snead. P r in tin g by I n s ty P r i n t s , 0 The Coming of the Quantum Cats by F re d e ric k Pohl P h ilip Kaveny U n iv ersity Ave, Madison, WI. A ll of 30 The Proteus Operation by James P. Hogan P h ilip Kaveny the opinions in Aurora are those of 30 The Scientific Romance in Britain, 1890-1950b y B rian S ta b le fo rd th e ir au th o rs a n d /o r a r t i s t s and are n o t n e c e s sa rily r e fle c tio n s o f the P h ilip Kaveny p o lic ie s or o p in io n s o f the p u b lish 31 Aliens: P e rv e rsio n of M otherhood, Parody of B irth Ja n ic e Bogstad e r . Any resem blance of any f ic tio n a l 32 Dorothea Dreams by Suzy McKee Charnas Ja n ic e Bogstad c h a ra c te r, w ritte n or d e p icted , to any r e a l person, liv in g or dead, is 32 The Handmaid's Tale by M argaret Atwood Ja n ic e Bogstad c o i n c i d e n t a l . The Aurora and SF3 33 Wizard of Pigeons by Megan Lindholm Ja n ic e Bogstad logos a re re g is te re d tradem arks of SF J . A ll r ig h ts r e v e r t to the o r ig i n a l a r t i s t s and a u th o rs. Fiction 18 Bad F r u it A llan M orris 25 F e lin e Eyes Paul G russendorf Poetry 3 Over Your Shoulder P at S tew art 10 The M irro r's T ale P at S tew art 12 The L i t t l e Green M artian 'a re C arol P o ste r

Brad W. F o ste r FC, 2, 18 Women: A Pictorial Archive from 19th Steven Fox FC, BC, 2, 5, 11, 12, 18 Century Sources s e le c te d by Jim H a rte r 3 Jeanne Gomoll 4, 7 (Dover, 1982) 10 SF Joan Hanke Woods FC, 6, 27 Harter's Picture Archive for Collage David Johnson 16 & Illustration e d ite d by Jim H a rte r Box 1624 R obert K ellough FC, 31, 33 (Dover, 1978) 3, 10 Madison, WI M ockingbird, S te lla 12 Picture Sourcebook for Collage & De Joe Pearson 23 coupage 53701-1624 e d ite d by Edmund V G illo n , J r o Greg Rlhn 14 (Dover, 1974) 3 1 Introduction: On Feminism, Science Fiction, and Humor (and Madison Fandom) by Diane Martin

I remember when we s t a r t e d p u b lic iz in g th a t J a n u s (and l a t e r A u ro ra ) was a f e m i n is t s c ie n c e r a r e . For th o se o f you who a r e re a d in g t h i s now, f i c t i o n f a n z i n e . We f e l t we had to e x p l a i n p r e p a rin g to w r ite l e t t e r s of comment, s a y in g , o u r s e lv e s . And ( r e ) d e f i n e n o t o n ly fem in ism , b u t "B u t w hat a b o u t ___ ? Or ?" Go ahead! a l s o s c ie n c e f i c t i o n and f a n z in e . And e x p la in the We'd lo v e th e In p u t. c o n n e c tio n a s w e ll. T h in g s a r e l i t t l e e a s i e r now. You may have n o tic e d , In g la n c in g a t th e ta b le I t ' s 10 y e a r s l a t e r . The i d e a t h a t SF i s o f c o n te n ts , t h a t t h i s is s u e a ls o f o c u s s e s on p a r t i c u l a r l y w e l l - s u i t e d to women w r i te r s b ec au se Joanna R uss. How d id t h a t happen? W e ll, th e le a d I t o f f e r s o p p o r t u n i t i e s to e x p e r i m e n t , to a r t i c l e f o r Aur, >ra 24, on u n d e r - a p p r e c ia te d women e x t r a p o l a t e , to d is c o v e r new ways o f l i v i n g , has SF w r i t e r s , was a r e v ie w o f R u s s 's How to become more o f a g iv e n . W ith in th e r a t h e r narrow S u p p re ss Women's W r itin g , by J e a n n e G om oll. c o n f i n e s o f th e g e n r e . In th e s t i l l n a rro w e r Somehow th a t rev iew sp a rk e d a l o t o f I n t e r e s t in c o n fin e s o f th e c o g n o s c e n ti. (A t l e a s t now th e re R u s s 's w r i tin g . Je an n e w ro te a n o th e r e ssa y f o r is a c o g n o s c e n ti.) t h i s is s u e , "An Open L e t te r to Joanna R uss" (from W ith t h i s i s s u e o f A u r o r a , we a r e a g a in w hich, I n c i d e n t a l l y , Russ has ask ed p e rm issio n to b r e a k in g new g ro u n d . Humo ro u s f e m in is t s c ie n c e q u o te in an up-com ing b o o k ), p ic k in g up w here the f i c t i o n ? My g o o d n e ss. T h a t 's g o in g to ta k e a l o t p re v io u s b o o k /rev iew l e f t o f f . M adison fa n s found o f e x p l a i n i n g . H um orous s c ie n c e f i c t i o n — now, th e m se lv es d i s c u s s i n g R u s s 's w r i t i n g a t open t h a t 's been d o n e. My N i c h o l l s 's S'-ioneo i-'iat ion m e e tin g s , a t c o n v e n tio n s , a t one a n o t h e r 's homes. l i t e r a l l y f a l l s open ( I t s s p in e I s P h i l K a v e n y , H ank L u t t r e l l , a n d I w r o t e b ro k en ) to a lo n g e n tr y on "Humour" ( N ic h o lls i s r e v i e w s / a r t l c l e s a b o u t some o f R u s s 's books fo r B r i t i s h ) . I t ' s a d is a p p o in tin g e n t r y , th o u g h . t h i s i s s u e . T he r e v i e w o f K r a m a r a e a n d Only m ale a u th o r s a r e m e n tio n e d , from Mark Twain T r e i c h l e r 's A fe m i n i s t D ic tio n a r y c o n ta in s a to K u rt V o n n e g u t. The o n ly f e m a le - c o n n e c te d le n g th y q u o ta tio n from one o f R u s s 's e s s a y s . A r e f e r e n c e i s to th e f ilm B a r b a r e lia ' f e m in is t, humorous e s s a y , no l e s s . And then t h e r e 's t h a t p e r e n n ia l p ro b lem : women I w ant to p a r t i c u l a r l y c a l l your a t t e n t i o n to have no se n se o f humor. You h e a r t h a t a l o t . B u t th e l e t t e r colum n th is tim e . We have s e v e r a l w hat a b o u t Lynda B a rry , K a te C l i n t o n , N ic o le th o u g h tf u l l e t t e r s — i n c l u d i n g one fro m Jo a n n a H o lla n d e r ? R ig h t. They o n ly make women la u g h . R u s s — f r o m r e a d e r s who s h a r e t h e i r own P resum ably t h a t d o e s n 't c o u n t. L e t 's f a c e i t . e x p e rie n c e s c o n c e rn in g th e s u p p re s s io n o f w ritin g Women have a r e p u ta tio n f o r n o t h av in g a se n s e o f and the r e - w r it in g o f h i s t o r y . humor. A co u p le o f books t h a t go a lo n g way A gain g la n c in g a t th e ta b le o f c o n te n ts , you tow ard d i s p e l l i n g t h i s m yth a r e f i t t e r s (e d . by may a l s o n o tic e t h a t o u r f i c t i o n seem s to have Deanne S tillm a n and Anne B e a t ts ; M acm illan, 1976) been w r i tte n by men. Our f e m in is t s c i e n c e - f i c t i o n and Du, Our Own S t m a i j s : F em inti't- ttim or and f i c t i o n . Y es. "Bad F r u i t " , by Alan M o rris was S a t i r e ( e d . by G l o r i a K aufm an an d M ary Kay a c c e p te d by us o v e r fo u r y e a rs a g o . H e 's w a ite d B la k e ly ; In d ia n a U n iv e r s ity P r e s s , 1980) p a t i e n t l y f o r h is s to r y to se e p r i n t . I t ' s a d ry , Q u estion : How many f e m in is ts does i t ta k e to r i d i c u l o u s p a ro d y o f a l l t h o s e a l p h a - m a l e change a l i g h t b u lb ? s c i e n t i s t- s a v e s - th e - w o r ld s t o r i e s . As fo r P aul Answer: T h a t 's n o t funny! G ru s s e n d o rf' s " F e lin e E y es", w e ll, I w ro te to him S t i l l , w here does s c ie n c e f i c t i o n hook up to s a y i n g ( r a t h e r s h e e p i s h l y ) t h a t my o n ly a l l t h i s ? C o n s id e r o u r 1987 WisCon g u e s t of r e s e r v a tio n was t h a t he was a man, b u t I was h o n o r, C onnie W i l l i s . Who h a s n 't h o o te d o v e r w illi n g to ta k e a c h a n c e , b ecau se I lik e d th e "B lued Moon"? (w hich i n c i d e n t a l l y won b o th the s to r y so much. He w ro te back t h a t h e 'd met w ith Hugo & N ebula in 1984. O r, to c i t e a token male s i m i l a r o p p o s i t i o n b e f o r e , a n d h a d b e e n a u t h o r , G eorge A lec Ef f i n g e r 's Muffy B irnbaum , c o n s id e r in g changing h is name to " P a u la " . T hat g i r l b a r b a r i a n s t o r i e s in B a tr’l P h y l l i s Ann w o n 't be n e c e s s a r y . H is s t o r y i s re m a rk a b ly K a r r ' s . 7* v : / . v p ; n e r n , w h ile n o t a p e r c e p tiv e — and p ro v o k in g —and fu n n y . ro m a n tic comedy by any m eans, has some u n iq u e ly L a s t ite m on th e agenda i s the c r i s i s th a t funny r o l e - r e v e r s a l s i t u a t i o n s . S p id e r R o b in so n 's sm a ll p r e s s p u b lis h e r s fin d th em selv es in a l l the C a lla h a n 's P la c e s e r i e s , ( to c i t e a n o th e r token tim e. As r e a d e r s , y o u - a ll have i t so e a s y . A ll man) th o se a t r o c io u s shaggy dog s t o r i e s , i s a l s o you do is s i t back and w a it f o r A urora to drop d e l i g h t f u l l y , o v e r tl y n o n - s e x ls t. F e m in is t SF and 2 in to y o u r m ailb o x ev e ry 18 m onths o r s o , r e g u la r as clockw ork. (Some c lo c k !) But what do you do when y o u 're doing th is fo r lo v e , n o t money, and i t becomes n o t-fu n any more, because y o u 're doing i t a l l alone? W ith in th e M adison fa n g ro u p , I n t e r e s t In am ateur p u b lish in g has dw indled, and the Aurora com m ittee has dw indled r ig h t alo n g w ith I t . Up u n t i l q u i t e re c e n tly , th a t i s . Suddenly w e've se e n a re s u r g e n c e o f fa n p u b lis h in g . S p ik e P a r s o n s h a s t u r n e d C ube, o u r b l - m o n t h l y n e w s le tte r , In to a . . . to be tr u t h f u l , words f a l l me as to j u s t w hat I t ' s turned In to . L et me j u s t say, I t ' s A live! (Take a chance; jo in SF3 and see what I m ean.) Andy Hooper c re a te d —o u t o f whole c lo th — the Turbo-Charged Party-A nim al APA. T his i s a M ad1 s o n - b a s e d APA ( a m a t e u r p r e s s a s s o c ia tio n ) fo r Madison fan s to w rite to and fo r o th e r Madison fa n s . I sa id I t would n ev er fly (The wings a re too s h o r t .) , b u t w e've p u b lish e d fo u r Issu e s now (and had to buy Andy a heavy-duty s t a p l e r .) Suddenly people a re clam oring to work on Aurora- I'm n o t s u r e w h a t to make o f a l l t h i s I n t e r e s t . My f i r s t Im pulse was to wonder I f I t ' s a t r i c k . Then I d ecid ed to hold m e e tin g s, and see I f anyone would come. They d id . SF3 e le c t i o n s were h eld In O ctober, and Jan Bogs tad agreed to take over as c h a ir o f the P u b lic a tio n s Committee. She has a v is io n of o rg a n iz in g and channeling p e o p le 's p u b lish in g I n t e r e s t s , so we can c o n tin u e to p u b lis h i'/u T i i , r e v i t a l i z e A urora, and re v iv e I

Jessica Aeanda Salnonson C heryl C line has some In tro d u c tio n , fo r young re a d e rs , c a n 't ta lk ab o u t Box 20610 p e rc e p tiv e comments on tha t! Seattle, WA 98102 V ic to r ia n f a n t a s i s t s , though In some c a s e s she makes more excuses fo r th e se w r ite r s than Bruce Gillespie In Aurora 24, they need. W hile I t ' s tru e M arie C o r e l l i 's n o v els GPO Box 5195AA V a le r ie Eads r e f e r s a r e a b i t th ic k (though s t i l l w idely read by Melbourne, Victoria 3001 to S ta n is la w L em 's people I n te r e s te d in the o c c u lt, more th a n by AUSTRALIA famous comments ab o u t p e o p le I n te r e s te d in s u p e rn a tu ra l f i c t i o n ) h er The L e f t Hand o f s h o rt s t o r i e s a r e much more c a r e f u l l y do n e. Darkness as having appeared f i r s t In "one of the S u p e r n a tu r a l s t o r i e s can be found In Cameos aca d e m ic SF jo u rn a ls w e ll over 10 y e a rs ago". (1 8 9 6 ), The Song o f M iriam (1 8 9 8 ), and The Love T his gave me a stra n g e tu rn . To be l o s t in m ists o f Long Ago (19 2 1 ). Her in tro d u c tio n to th e novel o f time a lre a d y ! Tha Murder o f D e lic ia (1896) tro u n ces the c r i t i c s My m a g a z in e , : SF Commentary, was of course who alw ays demeaned o r q u a lif ie d the m e rits of n ev er an academ ic jo u r n a l, a lth o u g h some people women's w r itin g s . I th in k C heryl a ls o u n d e rra te s a t th e time tre a te d i t as such. There was no O live S c h re in e r (pronounced SKRAY-ner) even w hile a c a d e m ic SF j o u r n a l a t th e tim e e x c e p t p r a is in g h e r. B esides Dreams > th e re Is a book E x tr a p o la tio n , w hich i s perhaps why SF Commentary w ith the s im ila r t i t l e Dreams and A lle g o r ie s w ith was the only m agazine a t th e tim e p u b lis h in g no o v e rla p o f c o n te n t. They a re f i r s t - r a t e poems- a r t i c l e s by Lem. In -p ro s e , w ith In te n s e ly fe m in is t and f a n ta s tic In 1 9 7 1 , L e m 's a g e n t and f r i e n d , F ra n z c o n te n t. A sm all c o lle c tio n c a lle d Dream L ife and R o tte n s te ln e r , s e n t me a tr a n s la tio n o f Lem 's R eal L i 'c In c lu d e s a n o v e le tte ab o u t the murder long review of The L e ft Hand o f D arkness. Much of of a l i t t l e g i r l , th a t can be In te r p r e te d a s a th a t re v ie w , and th e ex ch a n g e t h a t fo llo w e d g h o st s to r y ; th i s , to o , Is a fe m in is t c o lle c tio n b e tw e e n Lem and Le G u in , was re p rin te d as a and w o rth w h ile. fo o tn o te (o f a l l th in g s) to the in tro d u c tio n to I a l s o l i k e d B a r b a r a E m r y s 's e s s a y on the famous a n th o lo g y , Women o f Wonder. C h a rlo tte P e rk in s Gilman, though I d o n 't b e lie v e Lem 's d i s c u s s io n was n o t t r i v i a l and n o t h er u to p ia n w ritin g s a re w orthw hile. Som ething to s e x i s t , b u t ra is e d a number o f problem s connected b e a r in mind is th a t hundreds of th e se n o v els w ith the type of n ovel th a t Le Guin attem p ted w ere w r i t t e n by V ic to r ia n women, and Gilman w ith L e ft Hand problem s th a t m ight even now be d o e s n 't r is e above, the norm. Sad to sa y , most in s o lu b le . U rsula Le Guin was so p leased w ith the s c h o l a r l y o v e rv ie w s o f u to p ia n n o v e ls lo o k d e ta ile d a tte n tio n th a t Lem p aid to h e r book th a t e x c l u s i v e l y a t m e n 's w o rk s, w hich w ere th e she w rote to him d i r e c t l y , and they have been d i s t i n c t m in o rity , sin c e the genre was c h ie f ly f r ie n d s ev e r s in c e —so much so th a t Le Guin w rote women's domain. The u to p ia n n o v e ls a r e b a d ly a firm p r o te s t ab o u t the c a v a lie r way in which dated in a lm o st every c a se . E m rys's and C lin e 's th e SFWA t r e a t e d Lem some y e a rs a g o . As I e s s a y s , taken to g e th e r, g iv e the im p ressio n th a t rem em ber, she r e s ig n e d from the o rg a n iz a tio n women's fa n ta sy of the day, though of I n t e r e s t , ab o u t the m a tte r. is m arginal as l i t e r a r y a r t , and m o st o f th e W e ll, t h a t l i s t o f d e t a i l s so u n d s p r e tty e x am p les ch o sen a r e In d e e d m a r g in a l. A gain, s t u f f y . . . a t l e a s t I t g e ts the d e ta ils r ig h t. The how ever, In s h o r t s to r y a r t , th e r e a r e many odd f e e l i n g was o f becom ing a mere w hiff In a u t h o r s , e s p e c i a l l y o f s u p e r n a tu r a l s t o r i e s , h is to r y , j u s t b a re ly remembered, w h ile a t th e whose work rem ains v i t a l and e n jo y a b le w ith o u t same time s t i l l pounding the same ty p e w rite r I the l e a s t allo w an ces or a p o lo g ie s made. A s in g le used fo r th a t long ago Issu e of SFC (No. 22) and example I s S a ra h Orne J e w e tt; I'm p r e s e n t l y w h irlin g the d u p lic a to r h a n d le . I changed th e e d itin g h er c o lle c te d w eird s t o r i e s , Lady- Tarry name of the magazine from pF , rm entary to Thi- and O ther uncanny People , f o r a c h ild r e n 's book T o tn .h g s-'■■ i'i. : because they d o n 't p u b lish lin e . Most of th ese s to r ie s have been u n a v a ila b le n o v e ls lik e The L e ft Hand o f i.arkness any more, fo r up to 90 y e a rs , b u t a re every b i t the e q u a l, and I d o n 't h ear from Lem or Le Guin (fo r good or even b e t t e r th a n , her n oted c l a s s i c , ■ ':nr.try re a s o n s , which I happen to know), and I would • f ? tin te d T ire , which I t s e l f In c lu d e s a r a th e r d isc u ss a l l s o r ts of th in g s o th e r than SF. s u p e rn a tu ra l I n te r lu d e , by the way. Je w e tt was a But 1971/ 72 was a n ic e tim e fo r me in f a n l e s b i a n and a f e m i n i s t , b u t o f c o u r s e my p u b lis h in g . P le a se excuse me my b i t of n o s ta lg ia . E thel Lindsay As u s u a l, I fin d Aurora 24 Leland Sapiro As to Tom P o r te r 's 69 Barry Road v e ry I n s t r u c t i v e and g r e a t Box 833-044 Women SF W r i t e r s You C a m o v stie , Angus f o r my r e a d i n g l i s t . The Richardson, TX 75083 P r o b a b l y N e v e r H e a rd SCOTLAND DD7 7QQ whole atm osphere, however, o f"...H o w ab o u t names lik e makes me th in k o f , n o t an ST C la ire Winger H a rris , L e s lie F. S tone, L. T aylor w r ite r , b u t a m ystery one. T his Is Amanda C ro ss, Henson, th a t shudda been l i s t e d , b u t w e re n 't? who has w r itte n a s e r ie s of books f e a tu rin g Kate F a n s le r, a m iddle-aged p ro fe s s o r of E n g lish . I Buck Coulson I d o n 't n o tic e can r e l a t e to Kate b ecau se, l i k e me, sh e was 2677H-500N women b e in g sup- b ro u g h t up w ith a s e t o f s ta te d and u n sta te d Hartford C ity , IN 47348-9575 suppressed In s c i r u l e s t h a t sh e r e p u d i a t e d . . . y e t sh e c a n n o t ence f i c t i o n ; of com pletely f o r g e t h er u p b rin g in g . She sometimes c o u rse , s c ie n c e f i c t i o n a s a w hole is s t i l l fin d s h e r s e lf w ith c o n f lic tin g f e e l i n g s .I have looked down on by blg-nam e c r i t i c s as n o t being n o t found a b e t t e r w r ite r to keep me aware of q u i t e l i t e r a t u r e . B ut th e n , I 'v e n e v e r had changes and the fe m in is t movement. a n y th in g b u t contem pt fo r th e s o r t of c r i t i c s For m y se lf, I found my f i r s t fe m in is t thoughts Russ Is ta lk in g a b o u t; th e y 'v e been co n tem p tib le ro u s e d by a book by Dorothy L. S a y e rs—Gaudu ev er sin c e they began try in g to d e fin e " g r e a t” H ight- I re a d i t In my te e n s. In th is book th e re l i t e r a t u r e among c u r r e n t w r ite r s . Of c o u rse , In Is a p h ra se th a t s tic k s in my mind to th is day: the Good Old Days, A stounding was presumed to be "He m ust have h is womanly woman, do you th in k ? ” fo r men o n ly , b u t the o th e r STF mags used women The Idea th a t to a woman t r u th should be more w r ite r s . And even ASF had MacLean, w ith o u t a male im p o rta n t than making some man happy w as, a t th a t pseudonym. tim e, a re v e la tio n to me. I am p r e tty su re th a t Note to M lllea Kenln; even the Idea of r e a l no one th in k s o f Gaudy H ight a s a fe m in is t book, men Is r e l a t i v e l y re c e n t, and a re a c tio n to the b u t th a t Is w hat I t is to me. Most p e o p le , when h ip p ie s who came j u s t b e fo re the c u rre n t women's c o n c e n tra tin g on S a y e rs 's books, th in k of P e te r movement. C e rta in ly , none o f my te a c h e rs in the W hlm sey, b u t I f in d H a r r i e t Vane f a r m ore 1930s would have sa id th a t " r e a l men" d i d n 't use in te r e s tin g . words lik e b e ig e ; I t was j u s t assumed th a t a l l The o th e r day I was re a d in g Days o f G rass: men were r e a l , and they could use w hatever words A fte r th e F a ll o f Humanity by T a n ith Lee. T his i s they w anted to . You th in k women a r e p u t down the w orld conquered by a lie n s w ith human re fu g e e s t o d a y . . . re a d a t y p i c a l Saturday Evening P ost liv in g underground. Not a new Id e a , o f c o u rse ; In s to ry from the 1930s or 1940s. f a c t , one way o r a n o th e r, I have read of th is But w hat does S u z e tte E lgin th in k ab o u t being theme fo r y e a rs . I r e f le c te d a s I re a d th a t when c a lle d a s a in t? ( I b e t I can g u e s s ...) I f i r s t encountered th is p l o t , the main c h a ra c te r I never had to re -e v a lu a te Andre Norton. Her would m ost c e r ta in ly have been m ale, w hereas here s to r ie s w e re n 't what b rought me in to the f ie ld ( I I t Is fem ale. I t Is a ls o much b e tte r w r itte n and came In v ia H e in le in and the SEP), so I never much more r e a l i s t i c than I t would have been when o v e r-ra te d h e r, and I re a d e v e ry one o f h e r I f i r s t s ta r te d read in g SF. s c ie n c e f i c t i o n books, so I never u n d e r-ra te d I am n o t, how ever, In sympathy w ith the w e a lth h e r. S h e 's o u tsta n d in g as a w r ite r fo r ju v e n ile s , o f fa n ta s y p u b lish e d n o w ad ay s. J u s t one more b u t m erely "good" as a w rite r fo r a d u lts . I d o n 't w itch queen or sw ord-w leldlng Amazon and 1 w ill know of any of h e r books th a t an a d u lt w o u ld n 't puke. e n jo y , b u t th e r e a r e se v e ra l w r ite r s th a t an Hoping you a re n o t the same! a d u lt w ill enjoy more. Geeze, I thought everyone had a t l e a s t read "The Y ellow W a llp a p e r" by C h a r lo tte P e rk in s Gilman. (Shame on you i f you h a v e n 't.) Of c o u rse , I t h a s n 't been re p rin te d l a t e l y , b u t I t ' s in enough o ld e r a n th o lo g ie s . K ath erin e MacLean was probably better-know n by an e a r l i e r g e n e ra tio n of fan s than she Is today, m ostly because she had more p u b lish e d back then. C e rta in ly , when I g o t In to fandom, and fo r a few y e a rs a fte rw a rd s , she was g e n e ra lly co n sid ered In th e same l i g h t a s H. Beam P ip e r o r L. Ron Hubbard; one of the b e tte r w r ite r s , b u t n e v e r q u ite tops In p o p u la rity . Oh, come now. I have m a te ria l by both Mrs. O lip h a n t and M arie C o r e l l i , and I'm n o t an a n t i q u a r i a n , b ib lio g r a p h e r , or re a d e r of b e s t s e l l e r s . In f a c t , I d o n 't th in k I 'v e r e a d C o r e l l i 's books, though I own some, and bought them w ith the In te n tio n of read in g them Real Soon Now. I know I 'v e read O lip h an t In su p e rn a tu ra l c o lle c tio n s , Gt'ir G iant w a s d e f in ite ly n o t m ediocre. I 'v e read worse books, b u t n o t many o f them ; th e w r itin g a b i l i t y o f S k ln k le ( I 'm n o t s u re I b e lie v e th a t name) Is down th e re w ith th a t of John R u sse ll Fearn and R obert L ionel F anthorpe. (Who a r e , I n c id e n ta lly , the two m ost p r o l i f i c w r ite r s of sc ie n c e f i c t i o n in h is to r y , who b o th w rote under numerous pseudonym s.) Of Tom P o r t e r 's l i s t , the only ones I h a v e n 't h e a rd o f a r e Louky B e r s l a n l k , Jo a n B o d g e r, Joanna Russ's Reading List Maureen D uffy, S a lly G e a rh a rt, E. L. K onlgsburg, Ruth P ark , and R ochelle S in g e r. You m ight as w ell A nzaldus, G lo ria ; and Morgan, C h e rrie , Eds. T his add M elisa M ichaels to the l i s t ; I 'd never heard of h er b e fo re g e ttin g h e r second n ovel fo r review Women o f Color th is week. B le in e r, R uth, S cien ce and Gender B row nm iller, Susan, A g a in st Our W ill: Men, Women, and Rape C h e sle r, P h y llis , Women and Madness E h re n re ic h , B arb ara; and E n g lish , D e ird re , For [EDITOR'S NOTE: The fo llo w in g i s a l e t t e r of Her Own Good comment on Jeanne G om oll's e s s a y , "An Open L e tte r Faderman, L i l l i a n , S u rp a ssin g th e Love o f Men to Joanna R uss", w hich ap p e a rs in th is is s u e .] Gordon, L inda, Women’s Body, Women's R ig h t: A H is tro y o f B ir th C ontrol in Am erica Joanna Russ Dear Jean n e, Hooks, B e ll, A in ’t I a Woman Sea ttle T h a n k s v e r y m u c h f o r y o u r Jo h n sto n , J i l l , L esbian N ation Washington e ssa y . I t ' s an Im p o rta n t one and I L ourde, Audre, S i s t e r O u tsid er h o p e you c a n g i v e i t a s w id e Masson, J e f f r e y , The A s s a u lt on T ruth c ir c u la tio n as p o s s ib le . Morgan, R obin, ed S iste rh o o d i s P ow erful What y o u 're ta lk in g a b o u t is the re w ritin g of R ich, A drienne, On L ie s , S e c r e ts , and S ile n c e h is to r y by the "g a te k e e p e rs o f c u l t u r e " — D ale Sm ith, B arb ara, Home G irls S p e n d e r's p h ra se . A fin e w r ite r , by the way, you Spender, D ale, Women o f Ideas® should r e a lly read the f i r s t couple o f c h a p te rs of >Vr..v’ie:?z o f Id ea s ■ She docum ents th is s o r t of s t u f f happening v is a v is fem inism ( I t ' s happened w ith th in g s lik e c la s s over and over a g a in , too, and ra c is m .) fo r a t l e a s t 300 y e a rs . A c tu a lly , o th e r w r ite r s have gone back and found I t going on from a t l e a s t the 16th C entury in E n g lish . I'm e n c lo sin g a re a d in g l i s t (my l a t e s t ) . How can I e v e r sto p b eing a te a c h e r: But I 'd a ls o recommend T i l l i e O ls e n 's Silcnitav:: Wruvi W rvtan: _ d o n 't W r ite . And Evelyn Fox K e l l e r 's book on women and s c ie n c e — th a t i s , th e m etaphors and b e lie f s u n d e rly in g s c i e n t i f i c b e l i e f . I t ' s c a lle d R e fle c tio n s on Gender and S c ie n c e . T rouble w ith p rin te d l i s t s is they d o n 't f i t anyone. Y o u 're r i g h t ; when I w ro te How to Suppress e tc . I d i d n 't In clu d e "She w rote i t b u t I t was j u s t a fad and I t ' s o v e r now” . T hey've been saying th a t fo r 400 y e a rs , too! T h is tim e round, though, a s w ith the L e ft, th e r e 's been much more h i s t o r i c a l s c h o la rs h ip and much more open th e o ry . I'm working on a book try in g to co n n ect up a l l the s t u f f t h a t 's been w ritte n d u rin g the p a s t 16 y e a rs r ig h t now—and have read more than 300 books. One of the ways of su p p re ssin g knowledge of th e p a s t is by i n s is tin g th a t everyone Involved was so b o rin g and n o t " fu n " . I l e f t th a t o u t, too! Do you mind i f I use p a r ts o f your l e t t e r in the n o te s to my book ( i f I e v e r g e t to w rite the damned th in g )? I 'd l i k e to q uote you, alo n g w ith ab o u t 25 o th e r women w ho've w r itte n me, d e ta ilin g the c o u n te r-re a c tio n t h a t 's in f u l l sw ing. By the way, Samuel D elany in s is te d th a t th is "m e-decade" b u sin e ss was aimed a t hom osexuals and w om en!!! T h a t i s , "They should be p u ttin g me f i r s t , b u t th e y 'r e p u ttin g them selves f i r s t , how d is g u s tin g " . A l o t of re a c tio n a ry ta lk ab o u t "th e fam ily" today is r e a lly a cover fo r th e i n t e r e s t s o f C h ris tia n w hite men (some Jew s, to o , I have to a d m it). Oh, people can behave d re a d fu lly !

We Also Heard From: Vej A d ler, D aniel F a rr, Lynne Anne Morse 6 I t was ra in in g s te a d ily one m orning, so I l e f t You observed some of the s tr a te g ie s th a t sup my b ik e locked up in the basem ent, grabbed a book p r e s s women's w ritin g : "She w rote I t , b u t she to re a d , and took a bus to work. The book was w rote only one of i t " , o r, "She w rote I t , b u t she Burning Chrome1 (A rbor House, 1986), an an thology had h e lp " , o r , "She w rote I t , b u t s h e 's an anoma o f s t o r i e s w r i t t e n o r c o - w r i t t e n by W illiam ly " . W ell, the l a t e 1970s and e a rly 1980s spawned G ibson; B ruce S t e r l i n g w ro te i t s p r e f a c e . I many women SF w r ite r s who w rote q u ite a b i t of s ta r te d w ith th a t. h ig h ly -p ra is e d f i c t i o n . The old s tr a te g ie s d o n 't I t ' s a 1 5 -m in u te bus tr ip to my o f f ic e . I q u ite work. H e re 's the new s tra te g y : "They w rote should have had the time to a t l e a s t f i n i s h S te r I t , b u t they were a fa d " . l i n g 's s h o rt in tro d u c tio n and maybe even to s t a r t I t was n o t one or two or a mere s c a tte r in g of on o n e o f G i b s o n 's s t o r i e s . B u t I g o t women, a f t e r a l l , who p a r tic ip a te d In wom en's s id e tra c k e d . re n a issa n c e In sc ie n c e f i c t i o n . I t was a g re a t In f a c t , I f e l t as though I had been punched BUNCH o f women: too many to d isco u rag e or Ignore in the stom ach. I may have to g iv e up try in g to i n d i v i d u a l l y , to o good to p r e t e n d to be f in is h re a d in g th a t in tro d u c to ry essay because I flu k e s . In f a c t , th e ir work was so p e rv a s iv e , so keep running p a in f u lly a g a in s t a few se n te n c e s on o b v io u s, so I n f l u e n t i a l , and they won so many of the very f i r s t page th a t send my mind w h irlin g the m ajor awards th a t th e ir work demands to be and my an g er growing u n til I have to slam the co n sid ered c e n tr a lly as one looks back on the 70s book s h u t w ith a m uttered c u rs e —j u s t li k e I did and e a rly 80s. They broadened the scope of SF th a t ra in y m orning on the b u s. I w o n 't be a b le to e x t r a p o l a t i o n from mere technology to Include g e t on w ith a c tu a lly re a d in g the book and Gib s o c ia l and p e rso n a l themes as w e ll. T heir work s o n 's s t o r i e s (w hich I e x p e c t to e n jo y ), u n til and th e ir (o u r) concerns a re of c e n tr a l Impor I 'v e to ld someone ab o u t th a t sen ten ce and a b o u t tance to any remembered h is to r y or c r itiq u e . Ah my re a c tio n to i t . h a , I th o u g h t, how c o u ld th e y e v e r suppress So I'm w r i t i n g to you a b o u t i t , Ms. R uss, THAT?! because I th in k I 'v e j u s t d is c o v e r e d a n o th e r T his is how: s tr a te g y to su p p re ss women's w ritin g . You w rote In the p re fa c e to Burning Chrome, Bruce S te r the book, How to Suppress Women's Writing (Uni lin g rh a p so d iz e s ab o u t the q u a lity and prom ise of v e r s ity of Texas P re ss, 1983), d e s c rib in g in gory the c u rre n t new wave of SF w r ite r s , the so -c a lle d d e t a i l a l l the d i f f e r e n t ways th a t have been used "cyberpunks", and then compares t h e i r work to to d is a llo w , p re v e n t, d is c o u r a g e , d i s b e l i e v e , th a t of the p reced in g p e rio d : d i s c r e d i t , d e v a lu e , ig n o re , c a te g o riz e , d ebase, The sad tr u th of the m a tte r Is th a t SF f o r g e t, m align, r i d ic u le , r e d e fin e , re e v a lu a te , has n o t been much fun of l a t e . A ll forms of and o th e rw ise su p p ress women's w r itin g . I'm su re pop c u ltu re go through doldrum s; they catch th a t you meant to warn us w ith your book— to warn c o ld when s o c ie ty sn eezes. I f SF In the us t h a t th e s u p p r e s s iv e s tr a te g ie s a re s t i l l l a t e S e v e n tie s was confused, s e lf-in v o lv e d , aro u n d , armed and dangerous—and th a t i t ' s impor and s t a l e , i t was s c a rc e ly a cause fo r t a n t f o r women to re c o g n iz e them and to work wonder. a g a in s t them. B ut s t i l l , I remember (o r perhaps W ith a touch of the keys on h is word p ro c e s I im agined) an u p -b e a t ending to your book and s o r , S te r lin g dumps a decade of SF w ritin g o u t o f I'm s u rp ris e d th a t th e re r e a lly is no happy end c r i t i c a l memory: the whole decade was b o rin g , in g . T hat the b u sin e ss is s t i l l going on today. sym ptom atic of a s ic k c u ltu r e , n o t w orth ta lk in g a b o u t. Now, a t l a s t , he sa y s, w e 're on to the r ig h t s tu f f a g a in . •'•This essay should d e f i n i t e l y n o t be read as A ll the people who were made nervous or bored any k in d o f review of Burning Chrome- The s in g le or th re a te n e d by the e x p lo sio n of women's w ritin g p a ra g ra p h th a t I quote h ere was taken o u t of and is s u e s now fin d i t sa fe to come o u t and speak c o n te x t (though probably n o t o u t o f m eaning), and o u t loud of th e ir d is s a tis f a c tio n . sh o u ld be viewed as one of th o se b re a k ln g -th e Of c o u rse , I t ' s s a fe r to c r i t i c i z e g e n e ra lly ( " I t c a m e l's-b a c k l i f e e x p e rie n c e s—n o t as a sample of was a s e lf - in v o lv e d , "m e-decade", and n o th in g the c o n te n t of the book o r even of the essay from w orthw hile was c r e a te d ." ) than to say s p e c if i which I t is e x c e rp te d . c a lly what they mean. (The women w r ite r s of the 70s bored me because I d i d n 't c a re a b o u t th e ir Have you ev er a tte n d e d one of th o se fa n n ish id e a s ; I f e l t l e f t o u t . " [ I t was a b o rin g f a d .] ) r e tr o s p e c tiv e p a n e ls a t sc ie n c e f i c t i o n conven T his new s tr a te g y n o t only a tte m p ts to d e tr a c t tio n s ? You know— those a re the p a n e ls held in form th e c r i t i c a l assessm en t o f SF w ritin g by some rem ote program room where a few well-known women, and to b e l i t t l e the a c c o m p lish m e n ts o f fans from the p e rio d ("fandom o f the 4 0 s", "fa n women in SF fandom (w hich I ' l l w rite a b o u t l a t e r dom o f the 50s" e t c .) rem in isce ab o u t the tim e, in th is l e t t e r ) , b u t i t has a ls o been tu rn e d a b o u t what fandom was l i k e , a b o u t who the BNF's a g a in s t the women's movement as a w hole. For the (Big Name Fans) w ere, and ab o u t what feuds were l a s t couple y e a rs I 'v e begun to su sp e c t th a t the going on? No? p h ra se , " th e m e-decade" is r e a l l y a e u p h em istic W ell, I 'v e a tte n d e d a few p a n e ls co v erin g the a tta c k on the changes made by the women's move p e rio d when I f i r s t g o t involved in fandom (th e m ent. The p h ra se i s b o th in a p p ro p ria te and m is m id -7 0 s), and I'm alw ays amazed a t how u n re p re le a d in g . s e n ta tiv e the memories of the p a n e lis ts seem when The changes b ro u g h t ab o u t by the women's move I compare them to my own r e c o lle c tio n s of the ment w e re , o f c o u r s e , r o o te d in e g o t i s t i c a l tim e. I used to p u t the phenomenon down to the c h o ices made by in d iv id u a l women. In f a c t , huge same m y ste rio u s "B abel Gas" th a t confuses conven numbers o f us r e je c te d the t r a d i t i o n a l ro le of tio n a tte n d e e s and causes them a l l to r e c a l l anonymous, s e l f - s a c r i f i c i n g helpm ate th a t has so t o t a l l y d i f f e r e n t co n v e n tio n s. Maybe t h a t 's i t , I long tra p p e d women in unhappy m arriag es and un th o u g h t: Now th a t the e ra i s p assed , we a l l r e re w a rd in g jo b s . We began c a rin g fo r o u rse lv e s c a l l t o t a l l y d i f f e r e n t d ecades. T h a t's a very more than we cared fo r o th e r s . But the ir o n ic fa n n is h th e o ry , b u t i t ' s n o t c o n v in cin g . I d o n 't judgem ent of the men who found them selves cared th in k i t ' s too e g o t i s t i c a l of me to e x p e c t some fo r le s s w e ll than th e ir f a th e r s had been, is o v e rla p . th a t women who a r e n o t s e l f l e s s m ust be s e l f i s h . Fandom i s s u p p o s e d ly cem ented to g e th e r by The p h rase " th e m e-decade", th e n , w ith i t s p e jo r t r a d i t i o n and memories h eld in t r u s t and passed a tiv e to n e , r e j e c t s a l l o f the p o s itiv e , v i t a l i down to fu tu re fa n n ish g e n e ra tio n s by word of zin g e f f e c ts b ro u g h t a b o u t by th e h e a l t h i e r , mouth and fa n z in e . I t seems t h a t a w hole b ig s tr o n g e r , more cap ab le women f lo u r is h in g among c h u n k o f m e m o r ie s h a s g o t t e n e n t i r e l y u s. For th a t re a so n a lo n e , i t i s an In a p p ro p ria te m isp la c e d . For in s ta n c e , h ere i s a l i s t o f some la b e l. But lik e a l l the o th e r n e a r , decade-nam ing of my memories of the l a t e 70s. None of th ese la b e ls , i t i s c r u c ia lly in a c c u ra te as w e ll, be e v e n ts has ev er been mentioned a t any o f th e cause a r t i f i c i a l b o u n d aries of d a te s th a t end in r e tr o s p e c tiv e fando m -o f-th e-7 0 s p a n e ls th a t I 'v e zero s can no more p ro p e rly encom pass a l l th e a tte n d e d . names, e v e n ts , and id e a s of a movement than can a catchy p h ra se . Both abridgem ents (d e c a d e -la b e lin g in g e n e ra l, and "th e me-decade" in p a r tic u la r ) a r e p a r t of a very e f f e c tiv e s tr a te g y of su p p re s s io n . "They w rote i t , b u t they were j u s t p a r t of the me-decade" A grow ing number of people d o n 't remember th a t SF in the 70s h e ra ld e d the grand e n tra n c e o f many new women SF w r ite r s . As time goes on, the two s ta te m e n ts , #1, th a t SF was b o rin g —or fa d d is h — She didn't wrih in th e 7 0 s , and #2, th a t women's w ritin g and is s u e s were b o rin g , appear to be m u tu ally e x c lu wrote it, butsh s i v e a n d new r e a d e r s a r e l u l l e d i n t o ig n o ra n c e . Not everyone, of c o u rse , sh a re s S te r 2 S K Z S She wrc l i n g 's o p in io n of 1970s sc ie n c e f i c t i o n . For u'hat she wrote in s ta n c e , many people rem arked t h a t i t was a shame th a t James Tip tr e e , J r . had turned o u t to She wrote it, hi be a pseudonym fo r fem ale SF w r ite r A lice S hel one o f it Z ' - X X don. "He" was, they s a id , one of the very few e x c e p tio n s to the g e n e ra l ru le th a t seemed to blit she isn’t rec p re c lu d e a l l b u t women as im p o rta n t SF w r ite r s in the 70s. At l e a s t i t seemed so a t the tim e. From it isn’t really at 1953 through 1967, th e re had n o t been one s in g le She wrote it, bi woman to win a Hugo award fo r f i c t i o n . Between (Robert Brawalng.Brenwflarewe. n d 1968 and 1984 th e re were 11, and the in c re a s e of Her "masrnJine side.") J Z l / l p o p u la r SF w r ite r s who were women was an e x c itin g she’s an anoml e v e n t i n t the 70s. A nthologies of SF by women were p u b lish e d n o t only fo r the n o v e lty of th e ir She wrote it BUT. . . a u th o rs h ip , b u t fo r the s ig n if ic a n tly d i f f e r e n t way th a t women were w ritin g SF. T h eir em phasis on c h a ra c te r developm ent and human in te r a c tio n comp l e t e l y changed our e x p e c ta tio n s of the g e n re . But f a i r l y o fte n of l a t e , I 'v e heard o r read the d is p a ra g in g , a l l - i n c l u s i v e judgem ent of b o re How to Suppress Women’s dom made a b o u t 70s SF (in g e n e r a l) , and ab o u t fandom, to o . I. worry th a t th is v iew p o in t m ight Writing by Joanna Russ e v e n tu a lly be g e n e ra lly a c c e p ted as the 1970s la b e l, a l l ev id en ce to the c o n tra ry . ★in 1974, Big M ac's programming in clu d ed the SF c o n v e n tio n , re g u la rly o rg a n iz e s a dozen o r so f i r s t women and sc ie n c e f i c t i o n p a n e l. We have program s r e la te d to women's is s u e s . U sually th ese Susan Wood to thank because she fo u g h t fo r i t p a n e ls amount to a t l e a s t a q u a rte r of W isCon's a g a in s t v o c ife ro u s convention com m ittee o p p o si h e a v ily programmed sc h e d u le , and they range from tio n . We lis te n e d in the sta n d in g -ro o m -o n ly a u d i "Feminism 101" a l l the way to academ ic, fa n n ish ence in s p ite of the h e c k lin g by men who th o u g h t and sp e c u la tiv e program ite m s. the whole th in g was a b o re . (Some of them s t i l l th in k i t is a b o re , a p p a re n tly , a lth o u g h th e ir ★The l a t e 7 0 's was the tim e when "roo h e c k lin g tech n iq u e has evolved sin c e th e n .) We ms of our own" w ere opened a t many convent k e p t ta lk in g a f t e r the panel ended in a packed, ions to give women space to g a th e r and ta lk a lo n e s ta n d in g - r o o m - o n ly lo u n g e f o r s e v e r a l h o u rs to g e th e r w ith o u t h e c k le rs . The f a fte rw a rd . I t was an e x h i l a r a t i n g , e x c i t i n g , i r s t such room was o rg a n ized a t WesterCon in V u n b e lie v a b le g a th e rin g of p e o p le , overjoyed to ancouver in 1978, by Susan Wood. The f a c t th a t few er such e x c lu s have found one a n o th e r. None of us used the work iv e spaces a re planned now and the f a c " b o rin g " , to d e s c rib e the e x p e rie n c e . t th a t th e re a re few er people h e c k lin g fe m in is t d is c u s s io n , Illu m in a te s ★T hat g a th e rin g e v e n tu a lly le d to the founding the changes in the atm osphere and the g e n e ra lly of A Women’s APA, which became one of the m ost ra is e d co n scio u sn ess of fan s and s o c ie ty in gen e r a l . p o p u lar APAs around fo r s e v e ra l y e a rs . When we ★Thin k icked men o u t o f AWA, the c o n tro v e rsy s p ille d gs have changed a l o t in SF fandom. In a few y e a r o u t of the apa in to fa n z in e s , l e t t e r s , and g o ssip s the p e rc e n ta g e o f women in c re a se d so in g e n e ra l fandom. E v e n tu a lly , to o , E n g lish women d ra m a tic a lly th a t women d o n 't seem to be an en dangered s p e c ie s a t s ta r te d t h e ir own women-only Women's P e r io d ic a l, cons o r in f a n z in e s any which g e n e ra te d s im ila r c o n tro v e rsy . more. Science f i c t i o n has changed so d ra m a ti c a lly th a t I g e t few er confused re a c tio n s when I * Janus, the fa n z in e I worked on in the 70s ( I t u s e th e p h ra s e " f e m i n i s t s c ie n c e f i c t i o n " , l a t e r became A urora-) , was one o f the most w e ll— w hereas in the p a s t people thought the term must known z in e s of the tim e, and only the second be an oxymoron. These changes d i d n 't take p la c e fe m in is t SF z in e e v e r to be p u b lish e d . (The f i r s t in dark c lo s e ts . In f a c t , we s t i l l h e a r men who was Amanda B a n k ie r's s h o r t- liv e d The W itch and w e re n 't even members of A Women's APA com plaining a th e Chameleon-) b o u t the women-only ru le (Invoked a t l e a s t 10 Janus earned th re e Hugo nom inations and ra is e d a y e a rs a g o !). But ju d g in g from the fuzzy memories hue and c ry fo r su sp e c te d , v i l e , "b lo c v o tin g ." of some fan s today, y o u 'd a lm o s t th in k th e s e P eo p le— i t was a l l e g e d — w ere v o tin g b a se d on c h a n g e s m ust have b een made s e c r e tly , behind th e ir i n t e r e s t s and p o l i t i c s , and i f Janus h a d n 't locked doors and w ith m uffled w h is p e r s ... been f e m in is t- o r ie n te d , i t w o u ld n 't have b een J u s t a s 1970s women's fre q u e n t p resen ce in nom inated fo r a Hugo. Of c o u rse , we d i d n 't a g re e ; p ro fe s s io n a l Hugo nom inations now seems in the th e re was no c o n sp ira c y . But no m a tte r w hat the p ro cess of being cam ouflaged w ith e x p re ssio n s of reaso n s were fo r J a n u s's Hugo n o m in a tio n s, th e se boredom w ith the p e rio d as a w hole, i t may be a c c u s a tio n s only p o in te d o u t the Im portance of th a t fa n n ish h is to r y is being whisked under the the women's movement in fandom, even in the op in rug as so many d u s tb a lls . I was in terv iew ed by a io n s o f i t s d e tr a c to r s . woman from the Women's S tu d ie s Program a t the U n iv e rsity of W isconsin re c e n tly , and was a l i t ★At SunCon— the Miami w orldcon in 1977— fan s t l e s u rp ris e d by how few names of fem ale SF w ri o rg an ized a g a in s t the j u s t - l e g i s l a t e d Dade County te r s were f a m ilia r to h e r. Are we, p e rh a p s, work a n ti-g a y law s w ith b u tto n s ("Happy Gays Are Here in g h a rd to p re se rv e the a r t of " lo s t" women A g ain "), p a r t i e s , and an h y s t e r i c a l l y fu n n y , w r ite r s —d ig g in g through d u sty a rc h iv e s to re a d , s a t i r i c a l m asquerade e n try , "S lave Boys of G or". c o l l e c t , and a d v e r tis e our fo rg o tte n a n c e s to rs ' work—only to lo se tra c k ★When Phoenix won the w orldcon b id fo r 1978, of the work done by women j u s t a decade b e fo re th e s i t e tu rn ed o u t to be a problem in th a t, us? L e t's try to keep a tr u e r p e rs p e c tiv e of our su b se q u e n tly , NOW o rg a n iz e d a b o y c o tt o f a l l h is to r y , so fu tu re women d o n 't have to dig i t up non-E R A -ra t i f y i n g s t a t e s , which in clu d ed A ri and p u b lish a s p e c ia l "U nder-A ppreciated Women SF zona. G uest o f Honor H arlan E llis o n spearheaded W rite rs" issu e of Aurora to s p o tlig h t i t . a cam paign to r a i s e fa n n ish aw areness of the Today I s i t in the audience a t a ll-m a le " fa n s i t u a t i o n and w rote a p a s s io n a te l e t t e r which was dom of the 70s" p a n e ls (and so f a r , t h a t 's the p u b lis h e d in and commented upon in dozens of way the p a n e ls I 'v e w itn essed have been f i l l e d , fa n z in e s , in c lu d in g Janus - by men only) and don’ t h ear an y th in g of the p o l i t i c s , the changes, the ro le s th a t women played in ★Women and SF p a n e ls s ta r te d to appear a t th a t decade (e x c e p t som etim es, a l i t t l e c h o rtlin g co n v en tio n s a l l o v e r, though stro n g o p p o s itio n a s id e a b o u t how i t is e a s ie r now to g e t a d ate was mounted by concoms and fa n s who com plained w ith a fe m a le fa n ). The p re v a ilin g p ic tu re of b i t t e r l y t h a t fem in ism j u s t w a sn ’ t f a n n is h . th a t decade p a in te d by these p a n e ls i s o f an WlsCon 1 was nicknamed "P ervertC on" by some of o v e r-s e rio u s , ra th e r b o rin g , too academ ic, l i f e th e se fan s who were u p se t by V isC on's encourage l e s s p e rio d between b e tte r tim e s, between rem ark ment of f e m in is t, le s b ia n , and homosexual p ro a b le fa n n ish e ra s th a t (u n lik e the 70s) had good, gram m ing. F e m in is t p a n e ls have now become so r e p r in ta b le fan w r ite r s . u n c o n tro v e rs ia l a t cons th a t jo k e s a re made a b o u t I d o n 't th in k th e r e 's a conscious conspiracy t h e s o - c a l l e d g e n e r i c "W omen a n d SF to cover up the work of women. Many of the guys P a n e l" — th o u g h th e r e a l th in g s seldom f e e l up on th o s e p a n e ls a r e f r ie n d s of mine, and g e n e r ic to th e p a r t i c i p a n t s . On the c o n tra ry , t h e y 'l l be h o r r if ie d to h ear me even su g g est they they have encouraged d iv e rs e and e n e rg e tic d i s were Involved in any k in d of even vaguely s e x is t c u ssio n s w henever sch ed u led . WisCon, the Madison a c t i v i t i e s . For th e m ost p a r t , th ese frie n d s su p p o rted u s , sh ared our e x c ite m e n t, and seemed in clu d ed on them) and jo in in w ith o th e r women in t o a d m i r e t h e w o rk o f t h e new wom en the au d ien ce and add a few of my own r e c o lle c w r ite r s . These men w rote to J a n u s» a tte n d e d fem i tio n s to th o se of the p a n e l i s t s '. And we should n i s t p a n e ls , and were involved in th e d is c u s s io n s a l l keep up c r i t i c a l p re s s u re fo r balanced r e tr o a b o u t sexism and p o l i t i c s . Sometimes they even s p e c tiv e s , a n th o lo g ie s and r e p r in ts (fa n n is h and le c tu re d us ab o u t n o t b e in g f e m i n i s t e n o u g h , p r o f e s s io n a l) . I f we o u rse lv e s f o r g e t, why should a b o u t n o t b eing a s s e r tiv e enough, a b o u t n o t t a we e x p e c t new g e n e ra tio n s of re a d e rs and fa n s to k in g enough r e s p o n s ib ility fo r o u rs e lv e s . d ig up the tr u th ab o u t w hat r e a l l y happened? Was t h i s involvem ent of f le e tin g im portance As you su g g ested in Hou to Suppress Women’s fo r some of th ese men? I s i t j u s t a co in c id e n c e W r itin g , Ms. R uss, p re se rv in g our a r t and our th a t I h e a r m ale com m entators in th e media r e f e r p a s ts i s work w ith which most women have l i t t l e r i n g to fe m in is m a s a f a d t h a t h a s now e x p e rie n c e . And i n e r t i a so much fa v o rs m en's work passed? Maybe i t ' s n o t so much w is h - f u lf illm e n t being p re se rv e d over women's. But th is p re s e rv a working h ere as g u ilty s e l f - c r i t i c i s m . Some o f tio n needs doing i f we a r e n 't going to be p e rp e them have found more e x c itin g i n t e r e s t s (c y b e r tu a lly re in v e n tin g the same id e a s . punk w r itin g , fo r in s ta n c e ) , and may have hon e s tly begun to f o r g e t th e ir e a r l i e r i n t e r e s t in Aurora is on the b rin k of e ith e r g r e a t changes fem inism . U n fo rtu n a te ly , a l o t o f women seem to o r , p o te n t i a l l y , a f a i l u r e o f energy. Aurora is be c a tc h in g t h i s mood and a g re e in g w ith such one o f the few re so u rc e s fandom can claim th a t fre q u e n tly heard sta te m e n ts a s , "F an n ish w ritin g d ev o tes i t s e l f to SF and women, This fa n z in e is was academ ic/ b o rin g /to o sercon in the 70s To flo u n d e rin g now p rim a rily fo r la c k o f e n e rg y : d a y 's fa n n is h , hum orous/anecdotal w ritin g is so n o t money, b u t p e o p le , encouragem ent, p a r t i c i much b e t t e r ." p a n ts , you. I f you th in k you need Aurora o r the p o te n tia l i t o f f e r s , you should g e t involved by There i s a m easure of tr u th to the o b se rv a tio n w ritin g l e t t e r s re sp o n d in g to t h i s i s s u e , o r th a t th e w ritin g done by fa n s in the l a t e 70s was c o n t r i b u t i n g a r t i c l e s o r a rtw o rk fo r the n e x t more academ ic than the q u a n tita tiv e ly more p e r- is s u e — i f y o u 're o u t o f town and in te r e s te d —o r sonal/hum orous e a r ly 80s w ritin g . by g e ttin g involved p e rs o n a lly in A u ro ra 's p ro U n fo rtu n a te ly , th a t ten d s to make people assume d u c tio n . R ig h t now, A u ro ra ’s fu tu re is shaky. th a t the q u a lita tiv e judgem ent w hich accom panies A ll depends on w hether th is issu e can a t t r a c t th is o b se rv a tio n has equal v a l i d i t y . But i t j u s t enough f u e l in the form of p e o p le , i n t e r e s t , and d o e s n 't fo llo w th a t th e d i f f e r e n t , l i g h t e r , le s s e s p e c ia lly , l e t t e r s of comment, to f i r e up the S F -o rie n te d w ritin g of the e a rly 80s i s i n t r i n s i s t a f f and convince them to co n tin u e p u b lish in g . c a lly b e t t e r than the s o r t of w ritin g th a t was I w ant to see a l l of us remembering and ta l k done in the l a t e 70s. D iffe re n t tim es encourage ing a b o u t the 70s phenomenon so th a t we can b u ild d i f f e r e n t s o r ts of w r itin g . on the e x p e rie n c e (and n o t have to do i t a l l over W ell, t h e r e 's an o b v io u s s o l u t i o n to t h i s a g a in in a n o th e r g e n e ra tio n ). One sm all way to problem I have, i s n 't th e re ? I should stan d up a t keep the d is c u s s io n going (and to t e l l the sto ry th o se r e tr o s p e c tiv e p a n e ls (maybe even try to g e t to new women fa n s) is by keeping Aurora going.®

The Mirror s Tale by Pat Stewart he k issed hen once; I he _ st/iipes combined; Again, the bows untied; Once mo/ie; fo/ity. dimples "Oh, spane me, ’Pudge", Smoothed, and, shrinking The cheval gnoaned, Sideways, avn-in-anm, "And, stn ip es go betted. ! he stunner, and hen beau V e/itically than eig h t acnoss!" L e ft and slammed the. door. The doo/ibell chimed. "WeLI, i ' l l be chipped", "This J 'v e g o t to see, the min/io/i said, This p/iandsome hince, "th is c/iacks me up!" P/iobably. as g/ioss as sh e !" And shattered on the floo/i.

She skipped, she flounced, "What a dugly uchling", She t/u.pped, she. bounced, The. mii/io,z said, She opened the doon Spe.aking zeve-iit, On the second /ling. A J mi'inons w ill, h ei beau was a beaut A4 the. damsel preened, 3n black patent shoes Bejewelled, bechinned, And h a ll to match; Bedecked to k i l l . A buttonhole, a vest A /luf.fle. heie, A walking s tic k . What c la st! A sa tin bow, "Oh, bulgeous one, "My dimples one d ivin e ", Hou h a ven 't got a chance!" The dumpling said, Bemoaned the. glass. how can i mi it? 1 ’ LI thine!" 10 Humor in Star Trek The Trouble with Tribbles: A Critical Analysis

by Susan Balliette The fam ous Star Trek e p is o d e c a l l e d "The su p p o s e d ly c i v i l i z e d , decorous E n te rp ris e men T rouble W ith T rib b le s" (w ritte n by David G erro ld ) f ig h tin g w ith the K lingons lik e drunken s a ilo r s Is ty p ic a l, o f th e type o f humor fo r which S ta r on shore le a v e . They a re 'way o u t of c h a ra c te r— Trek Is known. or a re they? The E n te rp ris e is alw ays f ir in g i t s As u s u a l, the F e d e ra tio n and the K lingons a re p h asers a t somebody. I t s o s te n s ib le m ission may com peting, th is tim e under the terms of a peace be e x p lo ra tio n , b u t o fte n i t s a c tu a l m ission is tr e a ty to see who can develop the undeveloped the same as the K lin g o n s': to g a in t e r r i t o r y fo r Sherm an's P la n e t m ost e f f i c i e n t l y and th e re b y th e F e d e r a t i o n . T h ro u g h o u t th e S t a r T re k claim I t as t h e ir own t e r r i t o r y . The a c tio n tak es e p iso d e s, the E n te rp ris e and the F e d e ra tio n a re p la c e on the F e d e ra tio n 's Deep-Space S ta tio n K7. p o rtra y e d as p e a c e -lo v in g , only fig h tin g th o s e The main c h a ra c te rs a re K irk (o u r H ero); Spock u n c i v i l i z e d K lin g o n s and o th e r v i l l a i n s when (Our O ther H ero); C aptain K o lo th , th e K lin g o n a b s o lu te ly n e c e ssa ry . But t h i s b a r-ro o m b ra w l s h i p 's commander (th e H eavy); N ilz B a ris , the h u m o ro u sly t r a n s p o r t s o u r 2 0 th C entury macho F e d e r a tio n U n d e r - s e c r e ta r y o f A g r i c u l t u r a l e th ic in to the fu tu re : war is war and men a re A f f a i r s In t h i s Q u a d ra n t in c h a rg e o f th e men, no m a tte r w hat cen tu ry y o u 're in . developm ent p r o je c t fo r Sherm an's P la n e t (re a d Then t h e r e 's C yrano J o n e s , s p a c e - f a r i n g " b u re a u c ra t" ); and Cyrano Jo n e s, an Independent e n tre p re n e u r. He sta n d s in humorous c o n tra s t to space sc o u t and s m a ll- tim e e n tr e p r e n e u r w ith th e h o n o r a b le , m acho, m i l i t a r y men o f th e q u e s tio n a b le e th ic s (in o th e r w ords, a con man). E n te rp ris e . He has the soul and v a lu e s of an Old A q uick sy n o p sis of the a c tio n : Jones b rin g s West p a te n t m edicine con man. He s e l l s Flame Gems t r l b b l e s - - f u r r y b a l l - l l k e a n im a ls w h ich a r e and A n ta ria n Glow W a te r, b o th o f w hich a r e a p p a re n tly born p re g n a n t, they m u ltip ly so f a s t — s a le a b le because the w ater Is re q u ire d to p o lis h t o t h e s p a c e s t a t i o n w h e r e B a r i s ' the gems. I fin d i t re fre s h in g to see v alu es from q u a d r o - t r l t l c a l e w h e a t i s s to r e d f o r use on M iddle E a ste rn b a z a a rs in a program w hich so Sherm an's P la n e t. A K lingon spy po iso n s the g ra in o f t e n had w h i t e , m id d le c l a s s , m ale and and the t r lb b le s in the sto ra g e com partm ents d ie c a p i t a l i s t i c American v a lu e s . (By the way, I'm en m ass, making everyone w ise to the K lin g o n s' n o t a g a i n s t c a p i t a l i s m ; I j u s t l i k e to see p la n . The spy i s uncovered and Sherm an's P la n e t a l t e r n a t i v e s .) Is saved from p o iso n in g . M eanwhile, Cyrano Jones During the b ar room f ig h t Cyrano Jones fix e s Is running around g iv in g and s e llin g tr lb b le s . h i m s e l f two d r i n k s f o r f r e e w h i l e t h e Soon the E n te rp ris e is f i l l e d w ith t r l b b l e s , the s to r e k e e p e r /b a r te n d e r is o ff c a llin g s e c u rity . K l i n g o n s a n d E n t e r p r i s e c re w h a v e a n Jo n e s' open and f la g r a n t d e fia n c e of the honesty o ld -fa sh io n e d " s a i l o r on shore le a v e " b a r f i g h t , and K irk and Spock tra d e in s u l t s w ith B a ris . The humor h a rd ly ev e r l e t s up. One of the ways humor is used in th is episode i s to r e v e a l th e s o c i a l c la s s v a lu e s of the c h a r a c te r s . F i r s t S c o t t y - - t h e S c o t— and C h e k o v --th e R u ssian —argued ab o u t w hich l i q u o r , s c o tc h or vodka, Is the d rin k fo r a " r e a l man". Such corny n a tio n a lis m in an I n te r n a tio n a l crew, In a fu tu re w here w e 'v e p re su m a b ly o u t-g ro w n su ch p e tty c o n c e rn s, Is o f course funny. A lso, d e s p ite th e ir enemy s t a t u s , th e m ale crew members o f th e E n te rp ris e and the K lingon sh ip who engaged in th e b a r - r o o m b ra w l e x h i b i t th e same macho v a l u e s . The K lin g o n s s t a r t n a m e - c a l l i n g to p ro v o k e a f i g h t and th e ir in s u l t s a re p r e tty funny, e s p e c ia lly c o n s id e rin g how e x a g g e ra te d they a r e , fo r exam ple, comparing the E n te rp ris e to a g a rb a g e scow . Once a g a in th e men a r e e x a g g e ra tin g to prove th e ir own manhood. Then the f ig h t b reak s o u t and I th in k the v i s u a l s a r e am ong th e f u n n i e s t s c e n e s in a l l o f S t a r T re k . P a r t o f th e hum or com es fro m t h e s e e th ic is j u s t p la in funny b ecause he does i t so o p e n ly . The c o n t r a s t b etw een s e e in g Jo n e s d e fy in g c o n v e n tio n o p e n ly and s e e in g o th e r s The Little Green w alking the s t r a i g h t and narrow is funny and fun to w atch. At the end Jones i s o rd ered by K irk to p ic k up Martian Fare every tr ib b le on the space s t a t i o n o r f a c e a se n te n c e in a r e h a b i l i t a t i o n colony. Jones t r i e s to w easel o u t o f h is punishm ent in a very funny by Carol Poster s c e n e . When K irk f i n a l l y c o rn e rs him, Cyrano Jones s a y s , " I ' l l do i t . " However, we c a n 't help b u t th in k t h a t Jones w o n 't p ic k up a l l those tr ib b le s a f t e r a l l . Cyrano Jones is my f a v o r ite c h a r a c t e r b e c a u se , lik e R h e tt B u tle r in "Gone W ith th e W ind", he d e fie s co n v en tio n and does so hum orously. The l a s t c h a ra c te r whose s o c ia l c la s s v a lu e s I ' l l a n a ly z e i s N ilz B a r i s , th e F e d e r a tio n b u r e a u c r a t . A f t e r d is c o v e r in g th e p o is o n e d g ra in /d e a d t r i b b l e s , he y e lls a tir a d e of th r e a ts a g a i n s t K irk , In c lu d in g a S ta r F le e t Board of In q u iry where " . . . t h e y w ill r o a s t you a l i v e . " T hat im agery is klnda funny sin c e K irk has faced f a r w orse t h r e a ts . B a ris c o n tin u e s , "And I am going to be th e r e , K irk , to en jo y every m inute of i t . " N ilz B a ris i s a la r g e - s c a le p e tty b u re a u c ra t who makes th r e a ts b u t d o e s n 't have th e courage— or pow er, we m ig h t g u e ss — to c a r r y them o u t Hou want to go whe/ie? . . . The. UN? . . . Sane, 3 w ith o u t S ta r F le e t command's h e lp . H e's in the can take gou thene. 3 g o t to earn mg .living c la s s of governm ent o f f i c i a l s e v e ry w h e re who somehow, d o n 't 3? . . . Meg, w att a second, l i s throw t h e ir w eig h t around b u t have o th e rs do the ten —gou a miste/i? 3 neven can te .tt w ith gou d i r t y work. Nlantians—%ust hold on. 3 d o n 't mind dniving We've looked a t th re e s o c ia l c la s s e s of men in gou. 3 a in 't g o t nothing against gou; and we th is s to ry : the m i l i t a r y , a con man, and a d ive in a fnee countng whe/te eveng g/ieen bdob b u lly in g o f f i c i a l . Each c la s s has had d i f f e r e n t w ith ten ta c le s has g o t n ights, but 3 ’m not s o c i a l v a l u e s . W hich c l a s s do you p r e f e r ? allowing slim g ten ta cles on mg back seat. Hou A lso—where a r e the women in a l l th is ? Where can put down newspapers, gou can s i t on the should they be? (B u t's t h a t 's a n o th e r a r t i c l e . f-doon, but no ten ta cles on the seats. . . . Hou W e're only ta lk in g humor h e r e .) • sag gou/i ten ta c le s a re n 't slimg? Sure, and 3'm tgKgggTiigf^^

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tSgggggTKjidgSSBTttBgg^ d S X s ig d K B g tM ^ d d g g g ld S g id S u s g ^ cab dike 3 see fg t. 3 ’m not some ble.eding hea.zt lib e n v l to be. pushed aiound bg an oveigiown V T B g g K iid S d T d S d d K g g g ffU id d d u S U ggggggdgS gtyiggffTll& ggggp& ligtlgiw IggglgBligggKdiiri&gggwgdl^ ggggggdtggdSiSSKsdlSdSXi^gU^ ggsggg& dngdggdnU ggddgg^ gggggggddgglSd&KdStlidg^ g g S g g g g ilfie g g ffd S tt^^ gggggggggiggUgneggiQ^ TdgSgtdgigSXgggdggg^ ggggpggiggigg^iidggtgeiiSlgg^^ w ith? foreigner 1 are alwags trying to p u ll wme- g g g g g g ttU n T d K lU id lg g g g lB ^ ggggggg)dggdffgg!lU Ud?M ggggggiidgjriSggggggggdidSgbl&lSndiUl?tS ggggggjdwrggi&ffgiitetggggiTidgidglSl^ cops sta rte d minding th eir own business azound gggggggnggggggjlUdtegidggg^ wanted. . . . Till lig h t, Milter., get going a l- aeadg. ll'hat. ate you standing around like that gggggg d d g g S g ta S g T ^^ fg g g K d S g lS tttM U ^ Ig S g g g g g B id itS g g S ttS ^ g B ^ ig ig g g g g g tig ffg p g B g g g iM O bviously I 'v e been g e ttin g around to saying Magic Mamas, th a t th is is what Star Trek fan s have been doing when they c re a te th e ir own s t o r i e s , e s p e c ia lly Trembling Sisters, th e s e K/S s t o r i e s , which a re a ra th e r extrem e exam ple. They add an e r o tic elem ent to th e TV Puritans & Perverts p ro d u c t th a t goes beyond th a t en v isio n ed by the show 's o r ig in a l w r ite r s and p ro d u cers. My I n t e r e s t in th is book goes beyond th is one e ssa y . As soon as I g o t the book in my hands, I s ta r te d re a d in g the in tro d u c tio n and found i t so in te r e s tin g I c o u ld n 't even sk ip ahead and read the Star Trek essay which was my o rig in a l in te n by Joanna Russ tio n . I j u s t read the whole th in g from cover to c o v er. One m ajor theme of the book is a fe m in ist th e o r e tic a l a n a ly s is of the issu e of pornography and c e n so rsh ip , alw ays im p o rtan t Is s u e s , espec i a l l y in l i g h t of the Commission on P ornography's r e p o r t to A ttorney G eneral Edwin Meese. I am very s e n s itiv e a b o u t th is is s u e , as a b o o k s e lle r. I reviewed by Hank Luttrell______was d e lig h te d w ith Russ c ite d the a r t i c l e which This book of fe m in is t essa y s (C ro ssin g P re ss, I 'v e been try in g to g e t people to read fo r 6 1985) was loaned to me because I was in te r e s te d y e a rs , "The P o litic s of Pom : Can F em in ists Walk in the s u b je c t m a tte r of the essay "Pornography the L in e ? ", by D eird re E n g lish in the A p ril 1980 By Women, For Women, With Love” — w hich is about Mother Jones - K/S fan f i c t i o n . I f you know w hat th a t i s , you My re a d in g of th is book suggested th a t Russ a re a lre a d y sm ilin g and I n te r e s te d . I f n o t, l e t was a opponent of c e n so rsh ip . When the lo c a l fan me e x p la in th a t th is is a b o u t love r e la tio n s h ip s g ro u p g o t to g e th e r to d isc u sse d th is book, I between K irk and Spock of Star Trek- re a liz e d th a t th is i s more than an a t t a c k on I have alw ays loved sc ie n c e f i c t i o n . I h a v e n 't c e n so rsh ip , b u t ra th e r a c e le b ra tio n of the v a r always loved Star Trek- I 'v e come around a l o t on ie ty of human e x p re ssio n . K/S s to r ie s a re a c le a r th is s u b je c t. There was a time when I was ra th e r example of an e r o tic fa n ta sy w ith r e a l meaning to b i t t e r toward th in g s lik e Star Trek and Star Wars some p e o p le , in c o n tra s t to com m ercial p o rn o and o th e r p o p u lar media sc ie n c e f i c t i o n . I r e graphy o r the sex u al images of men and women in g a rd e d i t a s s im p le -m in d e d , d ilu te d , c o tto n TV a d v e r tis in g . Russ su p p o rts in d iv id u a l r ig h ts , candy v e rs io n s o f the r e a l s t u f f , and fe a re d th a t and d o e s n 't want to take judgm ental sta n d s. An th is pap would crowd o u t the more s e r io u s ly - in in te r e s tin g a s p e c t of th is book i s the e x te n siv e tended sc ie n c e f i c t i o n . a u to b io g ra p h ic a l c o n te x t of the e ssa y s, and the I try to keep an open m ind, and I guess I now warmth and humor of the d is c u s s io n . Russ takes a see th is s t u f f as an Im p o rtan t p a r t of the educa l o t of e f f e c tiv e sh o ts a t the unholy a llia n c e of tio n a l fu n c tio n of sc ie n c e f i c t i o n , in th a t i t fem inism and the r ig h t wing a g a in s t pornography has provided ste p p in g s to n e s in to th e l a r g e r and fo r c e n so rsh ip . So go and read th is book. You f ie ld of SF; maybe i t has even induced some peo w ill fin d i t p ro v o c a tiv e and v a lu a b le . • p le to being to re a d . I w o n 't want to g e t in to th is too much in th is review ; I 'v e w r itte n e x te n s iv e ly ab o u t my thoughts on sc ie n c e f i c t i o n and SF c o n v en tio n s and th e ir e d u c a tio n a l fu n c tio n s in an a r t i c l e in Comic Buyer's Guide l a s t y e a r. To re tu rn to the Russ essay c ite d above, fans who a re f a m ilia r w ith Star Trek fandom may be amazed by the a n a ly tic a l manner in which the K/S Joanna s to r ie s a re c o n sid e re d . You probably thought the s to r ie s were j u s t fo r fun! A c tu a lly , R u ss's essay makes i t c le a r th a t the s t o r i e s a re fu n . I t is s t a r t l i n g to see th e se s to r ie s s e rio u s ly stu d ie d and p laced in a fe m in is t c o n te x t. Those re a d e rs who a re n o t fa m ilia r w ith star Trek fandom w ill be even more amazed by the n a tu re and e x te n t of the phenomenon. R u ss's essay on K/S f i c t i o n i l l u s t r a t e s one of my id e a s a b o u t p o p u lar c u ltu r e . I t seems to me th a t com m ercial a rtfo rm s , lik e TV, m ovies, comics or p o p u la r f i c t i o n , sometimes become som ething much more than "m erely" e n te rta in m e n t. Members of the la rg e a u d ie n c e —which in p a r t d e fin e s popular c u l t u r e - - b r l n g th e ir own in d iv id u a l v iew p o in ts and in te r p r e ta tio n s to the p ro d u c ts; absorb the symbols and v o c a b u la ry , the le x ic o n ; and in u sin g a l l of th e se elem ents as p a r t of th e ir shared e x p e rie n c e , adding th e ir own human dim ensions, I e m L iis t Essays c re a te " re a l" a r t forms and r e a l ways of communi c a tin g im p o rta n t and i n t e r e s t i n g th o u g h ts and id e a s . 13 Con Report: A Review of Joanna Russ’s The Female Man

cX.

At Wiscon 10 I o bserved an i n te r e s tin g scene " F i r s t , in When I t Changed she seemed con a t th e h o t e l ch eck o u t. A v e ry l a r g e man vinced th a t when men came back to Whileaway a f t e r sta n d in g a t l e a s t 6 '1 " and w eighing a t l e a s t 332 600 y e a rs they would tak e over by w eig h t of th e ir pounds sim ply walked up to the h o te l r e g i s t r a t i o n stu p id b u lk . America was n o t a b le to win th is way lin e and in a booming v o ic e s a id , "I'm in a h u rry in V ietnam , and i t n o t c le a r to me th a t when you and w ant to check o u t" . have the drop on a man w ith a r i f l e th a t he is Even though th e re w ere a t l e a s t fiv e o r s ix going to tak e over a n y th in g . For a l l of her power people w a itin g in the ch e c k -o u t l i n e , one of the and e v o c a tiv e n e s s , Russ seems f a r too f a t a l i s c le rk s came to th e r e g i s t r a t i o n window and sim ply t i c ." s a id , "May I h e lp y o u , s i r ? " and c h e e r f u l l y "S econdly, Russ seems to th in k th a t one o b je c checked him o u t, In s te a d of than c h a s tis in g him tiv e of power seems to be to push around flu n k fo r the o v e rb e a rin g lo u t th a t he was. ie s . Power does n o t r e a lly have very much to do A few moments l a t e r a young woman who had been w ith th a t. I have been a flu n k ie a l l my l i f e . In sta n d in g a t the end of the l i n e came up to him S o u l on Ic e in 1967, b e fo re he became b lo a te d and and s a id : C h r is tia n , E lrid g e C leaver in tro d u c e d the id ea of " I am a woman and a d o c t o r , I have been su p e r-m a sc u lin e m en ials. Most of the men th a t w a itin g in lin e fo r the l a s t f iv e m inutes and seem to w ear th e m asks o f pow er a r e r e a lly you, you j u s t barged in . I am r e a lly peev ed ." n o th in g more than th a t. The fe llo w an sw ered , "You and Jo a n n a R uss " L a s t l y , I f e e l th a t the r e a l i t y of power r e a l l y s h o u l d n 't w an t to be M rs. R o b in so n . e x p re sse s i t s e l f in economics and i f th a t could T h e re 's more to power than b eing a b le to push be re c o g n iz e d , then perhaps the o b je c ts of power around b a rte n d e rs and desk c le r k s " . and th e d e s i r e c o u ld be m ore a p p r o p r i a t e l y I th o u g h t to m y se lf, I wonder w hat in h e ll fo c u s e d . In one sense a t l e a s t , our power is th is guy is ta lk in g a b o u t, so I stopped him and determ ined by the p e rc e p tio n s of the p o s s i b i l i a sk e d . t i e s in a s i t u a t i o n , and our a b i l i t y n o t to be He asked me, "Are you f a m ilia r w ith the movie m anipulated by g u i l t which can s te a l our v ic to The G rad u ate?” r i e s . " I s a i d , Y es, I th o u g h t I had se e n i t on Then he s m ile d , h is eyes lig h te n e d and he te le v is io n , b u t I did n o t know w hat i t had to do s a id , "S o rry , b u t I g o tta go now. I have a truck w ith Joanna Russ. to lo a d . By the way, I 'd lik e to h ear a panel on He s a id , " I am 41 y e a rs o ld . T hat movie was th is n e x t y e a r." k in d of a p o p u la r icon fo r my g e n e ra tio n in the l a t e 1 9 6 0 s. i t was a b o u t B e n ja m in , a young B erkeley g ra d u a te , played by D u stin Hoffman, who d id n o t buy in t o th e s y s te m . B enjam in g e ts in v o lv e d w ith a woman tw ic e h is a g e , M rs. reviewed by Philip Kaveny R o b in so n , p la y e d by Anne B a n c ro ft. He has a l i t t l e tro u b le making a rra n g e m en ts, lik e g e ttin g Russ shows us how one can use the Schroeding- a h o t e l room , o r g e t t i n g a d r in k from th e e r 's c a t p lo t device w ith o u t b o th e rin g to in v en t b a rte n d e r. Mrs. Robinson has no such p ro b le m ; a sc ie n c e to go w ith i t . The I'ersale Man (Bantam, w ith a snap of a fin g e r she g e ts a room, a d rin k , 1975) i s a com pelling and, I found, dem anding o r w hatever she w a n ts." book to re a d . I read i t lik e I would read James He c o n tin u e d , " I have read R u ss's ;•%> Joyce or Thomas Pynchon, as a kind of p ro se poe Man and When I t Changed > and in 1977 a t the U.W. try in which she a r t i c u l a t e s the g la rin g c o n tra Milwaukee I heard Chip Delany re a d a Russ paper d ic tio n s th a t co n tin u e to e x i s t fo r women in a th a t d e a lt w ith th e f r u s tr a tio n s th a t a woman who m an's w orld. I t is may be s u p e rio r to her male c o n te m p o ra rie s in the kind of book th a t you argue w ith , th in k a b o i n t e l l i g e n c e , a t h l e t i c a b i l i t y , and c r e a tiv e u t, go back to , and w ant to d is c u s s w ith a b i l i t y has being reco g n ized as a n y th in g b u t a o th e r s . Yet i t grows o u t of th e same garden as woman. Her speech i s , very sim ply, a b o u t power, the o th e r two. Sometimes I am re sto re d when I and 1 th in k she was o ff-b a s e ab o u t i t . th in k of the p o te n tia l of th is g e n re .* 14 ON STRIKE The Zanzibar Cat AGAINST GOD by Joanna Russ reviewed by Philip Kaveny______In th is s h o rt sto ry c o lle c tio n (Arkham House, 1983), which I bought fo r "When I t Changed" the re a d e r g e ts some id ea of R u ss's scope and a b i l i t y as a w r ite r . She is com fortable using a m u ltip le number of n a r r a tiv e d e v ic e s. She can as e a s ily w rite in the s ty le of the s c i e n t i f i c romances of the tu rn of the c en tu ry as she can t e l l a sto ry in the post-m odern n a r r a tiv e v o ic e . Her s ty le is n o t a c o n c e it adopted fo r e f f e c t . R ath er, she chooses the v o ice and s tr u c tu r e which a re b e s t su ite d fo r the s to ry she t e l l s . Russ is one of the few w r ite r s th a t you can n o t g e t in to the fo rm -a n d -c o n ten t argum ent about.®

A LESBIAN LOVE STORY J O A N N A RUSS The Two of Them by Joanna Russ On Strike Against God reviewed by Diane Martin______The TtJo o f Them (B erk eley , 1978), by Joanna Russ is the sto ry of a young woman from our time by Joanna Russ who is re c r u ite d by a tim e - tr a v e lle r to work fo r a c ro ss-tim e I n t e r s t e l l a r agency whose tru e pur p o se i s n e v e r made c le a r . Ire n e jumps a t the reviewed by Janice Bogstad______chance to c u t o u t of her b o rin g , m id d le -c la s s T h e re 's th is c lu b , you se e . B ut they e x i s t e n c e . She and E r n s t become p a rtn e rs and w o n 't l e t you in , so you cry in a co rn er lo v e r s . fo r the r e s t of your l i f e o r you change Though th e re a re fla sh b a c k s to h er re c ru itm e n t your ways and f e e l r o tte n because i t i s n 't as a te e n a g e r, the main p a r t of the sto ry takes you o r you go lo o k in g fo r a n o th e r c lu b . But p la c e a b o u t 20 y e a rs l a t e r . On an assignm ent to a th is clu b is the w orld. T h e re 's o nly one. p la n e t s e ttle d by Moslems^, where women's freedom W hile n a r r a tin g the f i r s t le s b ia n ex p erien ce is se v e re ly r e s t r i c t e d , Ire n e comes to r e a liz e of a 3 8 -y e a r-o ld p r o fe s s o r, R u ss's s h o rt n o v e l, th a t her glam ourous, e x c itin g job w ith the I n te r - On S tr ik e A g a in st Cod (C ross P re s s , 1986), makes G a la c tic Trans-Tem poral A u th o rity i s a c t u a l l y e n c o u n te rs w ith r e a l i s t i c and fa n ta sy c h a ra c te rs j u s t as r e s t r i c t i v e . No b e t t e r , in f a c t , than the an excuse fo r a h o st of o b se rv a tio n s lik e the one E arth she l e f t behind. In h er e f f o r t s to rescu e a above. L ike the o th e r s , th is one Is a bom bshell. b r ig h t 1 2 -y e a r-o ld g i r l from the Moslem s o c ie ty , I t s t r u t h l i e s in th e a r t i c u l a t i o n of shared Ire n e a ls o re sc u e s h e r s e lf —a t a g r e a t p ric e . e x p e rie n c e , e n c o u n te rs, and r e a l i z a t i o n s w hich In keeping w ith the time tr a v e l theme, th is many a d u lt women sh are b u t few of us can d e sc rib e n o v e l's p ro g re ssio n i s n o t s t r i c t l y lin e a r . I t in e i t h e r f i c t i o n o r n o n - f ic tio n . a ls o has a stro n g l y r i c q u a lity th a t echoes the The w ork, r e a p p e a r in g s ix y e a rs a f t e r i t s c h ild Z u b e y d a h 's p a s s i o n f o r p o e t r y . The f i r s t p u b lic a tio n , a c ts lik e a h e a lth y dose of v iew p o in ts s h i f t from Ire n e to E rn st to Zubeydah, d e ja vu, and, a t the same tim e, a re v e la tio n . In f a c t to e v e ry c h a r a c t e r a t one p o in t o r C h a ra c te rs in iem ale i-ian—p u b lish e d in 1975— a n o t h e r . As r e a d e r s , we h a v e a d e f i n i t e sa id some of th e se same th in g s a b o u t m en's egos ad v an tag e. A key a d v a n ta g e , in I r e n e 's case. She and women's s tr u g g le s . Here they a re a re p re se n is obsessed and d is tr e s s e d by her in a b ility to ted more b a ld ly . I t is s t i l l amazing th a t only a communicate w ith E rn st. Even a f t e r so many y ears few y e a rs ago, the co n cep ts e x p ressed In th is and to g e th e r, and in s p ite of h is being a s e n s itiv e , o th e r more re c e n t books had n o t been a r t i c u l a c a rin g man. She Is d i s s a t i s f i e d w ith the ro u tin e s te d —y e t th e y 'v e shaken the fo u n d a tio n s of r e a l i th e ir r e la tio n s h ip ta k e s. R outines th a t p re v e n t ty . One re a d s through the book say in g Yes, Yes— h e r fro m e x p l a i n i n g , p r e v e n t E r n s t from Why d id I t take us so long to r e a liz e th a t the u n d e rsta n d in g , w hat she tr u ly means. problem was in the w orld and n o t in us? And won Taken a lle g o r i c a l l y , Iren e i s Everywoman. Her d e rin g how f r a g i l e our new in d iv id u a l and c o lle c ad v en tu re e n te r ta in s and te a c h e s. The le sso n is tiv e co n sc io u sn e ss s t i l l i s . h a rd .e On S tr ik e A g a in st :},~d should be read or re read to re c a p tu re th is h i s t o r i c a l p e rs p e c tiv e , to ^ •In te re stin g ly , th is w orld and some of the remember w hat is so e a s ily f o rg o tte n : t h a t we c h a ra c te rs a re based on "For the Sake of G race", have only j u s t begun to understand our problem s, a s h o r t s to r y by S u z e tte Haden E lg in . Russ much le s s work on s o lu tio n s.® d e d ic a te s th is novel to E lg in . o rg a n iz e s the seven dw arfs in to a m in e rs' union— Rapunzel’s Reven< and a p p lie s fo r a jo b as a m iner h e r s e lf . These a re n o t women w a itin g to be rescued by P rin ce Fairytales Charm ing. They ta k e m a tte r s in t o t h e i r own, e n tir e ly com petent hands. They l i f t w e ig h ts, have b la c k b e lts in k a r a te , and have good heads fo r for Feminists ma the ma t i c s . There Is very l i t t l e m y ste rio u s or m agical in by Attic Press m ost o f th e se t a l e s . The th re e b e a rs liv e in the c o n c re te ju n g le , and su b sc rib e to Save th e World M onthly ( " G o ld ilo c k s F in d s a Home", by Sue R u s s e l l ) . The b a s ic assu m p tio n is th a t these women a r e s o c i a l i s t s , and m ost o f them a r e reviewed by Judy Goldsmith______v e g e ta ria n s . R a p u n z e l's re s c u e r i s a woman who T his l i t t l e book (A ttic P re ss, 1985) jumped grows h er own food, and s tu d ie s the p ro p e rtie s of o u t a t me, when I had no I n te n tio n w hatsoever of h e rb s. And Rapunzel has a hand in her own re sc u e , buying a n o th e r book th a t day. I made the m istak e as w e ll. Gone i s th e p a s s iv e h e r o in e ; th o se o f p ic k in g i t up, and opened to " C in d e re lla Re- p rin c e s s e s g ra n te d sharp w its , by n a tu re or by Examined" by Maeve B lnchy. I had to have th is f a i r y g o d m o th e rs, u se t h e i r w its . Some marry c o lle c tio n ! I t is u n fo rtu n a te ly e x p e n siv e , sin c e p r i n c e s , some l i v e a lo n e , and some liv e w ith i t is from a sm all p re ss in Ire la n d . The cover women f r ie n d s . One p rin c e s s i s c u rs e d w ith a page " . . . g r a t e f u l l y a c k n o w le d g e [ s ] . . . a l l th e " h a p p ily ev er a f t e r " , b u t i s b le sse d w ith the women on the Women in Community P u b lish in g Course prom ise th a t i t w ill only l a s t ten y e a rs , and 1984/85 who b rain sto rm ed th is book i n t o e x i s then she w ill escape ("The P la s tic P rin c e s s " , by te n c e " . I f i t were n o t c le a r th a t th is was a Anne C la ffre y ). community e f f o r t , the f i r s t s to r y , "The P r i n c e s s e s ' Forum", by Linda Kavanaugh, m ight have The volume c o n ta in s a F e m in ist Word S earch, clued us in : and v a r io u s and w o n d e rfu l i l l u s t r a t i o n s and Once upon a time, all the princesses c a rto o n s. I t Is a p e r f e c t book fo r re a d in g o u t and heroines of fairy tales got together at lo u d . I only w ish I had a sm all c h ild (someone Snow White's cottage to discuss the shor e l s e 's c h ild ) to sh a re i t w ith . I su sp e c t th a t tage of intelligent princes. much of the magic depends on ou r f a m ilia r ity w ith These s t o r i e s a re fu n . They a re the s o r ts of th e f a i r y t a l e s In t h e ir o r ig in a l, o r a t l e a s t re w ritin g s th a t many of us have c o n sid e re d . In f a m ilia r E n g lish , tr a n s la tio n s . Yet many of these o n e , R a p u n z e l Murphy p a r t i c i p a t e s in a drug t a l e s stan d a lo n e . They a re sm all trium phs of t e s t i n g program w hich m akes h e r h a i r grow woman over c o rp o ra tio n s , greedy I n d iv id u a ls , i l l - u n c o n t r o l l a b l y ( " R a p u n z e l's R ev en g e", by the w ishing f a ir y godm others, and the l i k e . I f you F le e t S tr e e t F a i r i e s ) ; in a n o th e r , C in d e r e lla d o n 't w ant to spend the money on i t , buy a copy goes in to p a rtn e rs h ip w ith the k in g in s e ttin g up w ith a frie n d o r two, to sh a re . I am su re the a t o u r i s t in d u s try in the c a s t l e . Snow W hite in d iv id u a l a u th o rs would approve.® Something Shady

s i s t e r of one of h er c l i e n t s , and sends S toner on a t r i p to Maine to fin d h e r—and in c id e n ta lly , to p ic k up a new f a m ilia r . Both Aunt Hermione and Mary Lou c o n sp ire fo r Gwen to accompany S toner on by Sarah Dreher th is t r i p . The t r i p is a ro u sin g su c c e ss. C la ire is re sc u e d , the new fa m ilia r is found, and Gwen and S to n e r's r e la tio n s h ip moves in to a new phase. I d o n 't have enough e x p erien ce w ith le sb ia n f i c t i o n to t e l l how th is book stan d s up w ith in t h a t g e n re . I h a v e , ho w ev er, read p le n ty of reviewed by Diane Martin s t r a i g h t m ystery f i c t i o n , and view ed in th a t c o n te x t, Som ething Shady is one of the b e s t. The S u b title d "A S to n er McTavish M ystery", Some love s to ry i s p re se n te d n a t u r a l l y , m a t t e r - o f - th in g Shad- (New V ic to ria , 1986)is a se q u e l to f a c t l y , in a way t h a t fo c u s e s on lo v e and S to n e r M cTavish: A L esb ia n M ystery/Rom ance. The f e e l i n g s r a t h e r th a n s e x an d g e n d e r . The lead c h a r a c te r , Lucy B. S to n er McTavish— S toner m y ste ry /a d v e n tu re is co n v in cin g , in s p ite o f—or to h e r f r ie n d s — is co-owner of a Boston tra v e l maybe because o f — th e p s y c h ic o v e r to n e s . The agency. She is gay. Her p a r tn e r , the o u tra g e o u s, q u a l i t y t h a t a p p e a ls to me th e m o st i s the im p u lsiv e , y e t p r a c tic a l Mary Lou K esselbaum , is a u th e n tic ity of the c h a ra c te rs , e s p e c ia lly the s t r a i g h t . S to n er liv e s w ith her Aunt Hermione, an w om en.lt is a more than a t r e a t , i t is a r e l i e f e c c e n tric p r a c tic in g (perhaps t h a t 's redundant) to read ab o u t women who could be r e a l , w hether p sy c h ic . S to n er has an o n /o ff se m i-re q u ite d lo v e r good or bad. There a re men in th is book, too, named Gwen Owens, a h igh school te a c h e r. They b o th good guys and bad guys. The male c h a ra c te rs became f r ie n d s , and then m o r e - th a n - f r le n d s in a re n o t as fin e ly -d ra w n as the fem ale ones, b u t D re h e r's f i r s t book, when S to n er helped re sc u e th e y a re r e c o g n iz a b le human. Samf-thiny Shady Gwen from h er crazed husband. Aunt Hermione has a w i l l le a v e you f e e l i n g b o t h in v o lv e d and p rem onition a b o u t C la ire Rassm ussen, the m issing « |g e n te rta in e d .® to be a "goodguy" o fte n f a i l . As to u r is ts in a fo re ig n co u n try a re given a p h rase book so th a t A Feminist Dictionary w ith o u t a c tu a lly le a rn in g the language they can s t i l l c o m p la in ... so I am going to g iv e you a p h rase book fo r the fo re ig n country of fem inism . T h e r e 'l l be a d i f f e r e n c e , th o u g h — t h i s book tr a n s la te w hat you say . I t tr a n s la te s w hat you by Cheris Kramarae say in to w hat you mean: & Paula A. Treichler What You Say What You Mean I'm a l l f o r w om en's I'm sc a re d . lib e r a tio n b u t . . .

I t was only a jo k e . I f in d jo k e s a b o u t revie you funny. Why d o n 't wed by Diane Martin you fin d jo k es a b o u t A F e m in ist D ictio n a ry , by C h eris Kramarae and you funny? Paula A. T re ic h le r (Pandora P re s s , 1985, 587 pp) I t ' s v ery hard to "review " a d ic tio n a r y . Who W e're h ir in g a woman. K iss me. I'm a good can have o p in io n s ab o u t d e f in itio n s ? R ig h t. Of What do you th in k of guy- c o u rse , t h a t 's th e whole p o in t. A F e m in ist D ic th a t? tio n a ry (P a n d o ra P r e s s , 1985) i s , in some re s p e c ts , a t r a d i t i o n a l d ic tio n a r y . I t i s , fo r Y ou c a n ' t e x p e c t And. i f w e 're lu ck y , exam ple, o rg an ized a lp h a b e tic a lly . In o th e r ways, change o v e rn ig h t. n e v e r. i t more resem bles an e n c y c lo p e d ia . R ath er than fo c u sin g on p a r ts of speech and p ro n u n c ia tio n , A ll so u rces a re c ite d in a b ib lio g ra p h y th a t w ith d e f in itio n by way o f synonym or d e s c r ip tio n , runs over 70 pages. ( I t makes a f i n e re a d in g the many e n tr ie s a re q u o ta tio n s (m ainly of women) l i s t . ) M o st, b u t n o t a l l , of the sources a re from th ro u g h o u t h is to r y . A lso, the e n tr ie s in women, and a r e ta k e n from ac a d e m ic p a p e r s , c lu d e p h r a s e s a s w e ll a s i n d i v i d u a l w o rd s. l e t t e r s , m ag azin e and j o u r n a l a r t i c l e s , song T h e re 's p le n ty o f c ro s s -re fe re n c in g . You can look l y r i c s , p la y s , works of f ic tio n and n o n - f ic tio n . up one word, lik e "pen nam es", and be re f e r r e d to Many, i f n o t a l l , the "b ig -tim e " fe m in ists of the " a n d ro c e n trism " , "anonymous” , and "nam ing", and 20th C entury a re re p re s e n te d : B row nm iller, D aley, from th e re to a m a n u e n sis, a u t h o r , a u t h o r i t y , Dworkin, G re e r, Steinem , and W ittig , to name j u s t eponym, h u rric a n e , matrynomy, new name, p a tr y - a few. P lus hundreds of lesser-know n w rite rs from nomy, p r i n t , and w ritin g . I t ' s p o s s ib le fo r the throughout h is to r y . Y o u 'll reco g n ize names th a t re a d e r to e n te r ta in h e r s e lf th is way fo r h o u rs, have a p p e a re d in c o n n e c tio n w ith Aurorat Deu as i f re a d in g one of those "e n d le ss q u e st" books. Moont and W isCon, some many tim e s : M argaret I t ' s a ls o p o s s ib le to read th is book s t r a i g h t A tw ood, C a m illa D e c a rn in , T e re sa D eL au retis, th ro u g h , from A to Z (though y o u 'l l p robably be S u z e tte Haden E lg in , B everly F rie n d , S a lly M ille r in trig u e d in to ta k in g a few s i d e - t r i p s ) . And i t G e a rh a rd t, C h a rlo tte P erk in s Gilman, U rsula K. a ls o makes a f in e re fe re n c e work. Follow ing a re LeGuin, Marge P ie rc y , Jo a n n a R u ss, and Susan some sample d e f in itio n s , to give you the fla v o r Wood. of th is book: Z F em in ist D ieti-.n'iry i s an e n te r ta in in g , A-Mazing: W ithin a c u ltu re p o sse ss by the myth e d u c a tio n a l, u p lif tin g , in s p ir a tio n a l r e f e re n c e o f fem inine e v i l , the nam ing, d e s c r ib in g , and w ork.• th e o riz in g a b o u t good and e v il has c o n s titu te d a m aze/haze of d e c e p tio n . The jo u r n e y o f women becoming is b re a k in g through th is maze— sp rin g in g in to f r e e sp a c e , which is an a-m azlng p ro c e ss. (Mary D aley, 1978) Dear Reader was the w inning e n try in the 1982 c o n te s t to fin d a n o n - s e x is t, n a tu r a l s u b s titu te f o r Gen tie m e n (Dear S ir or Madam) , e tc ) as a s a lu ta tio n in a l e t t e r to someone in an o rg a n iz a tio n whose name and t i t l e you d o n 't know. (A lb e rt Jo sep h , 1983) Man Junky: In o rd e r to make su re th a t we w ill see o u rs e lv e s as h a lf-p e o p le , w ith an a d d itio n to g e ttin g our id e n tity from se rv in g o th e r s , s o c ie ty t r i e s hard to c o n v e rt us as young women in to "man ju n k ie s ; th a t i s , in to people who need re g u la r sh o ts of m ale-ap p ro v al and p re se n c e , b o th p ro fe s s io n a lly and p e rs o n a lly . (G lo ria Steinem , 1979) P erversion: The w ish to have a vagina sm ell lik e a stra w b e rry . (Midge L e n n e rt and Norma W ill- son, e d s, 1973) Phrase Book fo r the Foreign Country o f Femi nism : In an open l e t t e r to m ale c o lle a g u e s , Joanna Russ su g g e sts why a g iv e n m an's a tte m p ts

Bad Fruit

by Allan Morris

On the 16th day of September in 1981—a humid evidence of h y s te ria was m eag er, th e r e was a Wednesday a fte rn o o n i t was—a m utant winged wa p e rv a siv e sense of dread in many p a r ts of the te rm e lo n th e s i z e and sh ap e o f th e Goodyear n a tlo n . Blimp, having l a i n w aste to the c o u n try sid e n e a r In r e s id e n tia l Cambridge, fo r example—and in B rockton, M assach u setts the day p re v io u s, landed Boston as w e ll—a k ind of a g g re s s iv e , f a i n t l y h e a v ily on H arvard Square in Cambridge and, o v er m anic, calm appeared to have overcome th a t p a r t r i p e and a lre a d y r o t t i n g , crushed to d e a th 17 of the populace com prised of c o lle g e s tu d e n ts , p a s s e rs -b y , drowning a lik e number in i t s liq u id u ndergraduate and g ra d u a te , and o th e r young peo w a ste s. p le who, having gone to school in the a re a , had At th e M a ssa c h u se tts S ta te House in nearby chosen to pursue th e ir liv e s n e a r i t s com forting B oston, the G overnor, moved though he was to groves of academe. In the days fo llo w in g th e te a rs by the c a rn a g e , b reath ed a sig n of r e l i e f m y s te rio u s m u ta n t's tr a g ic c ra sh la n d in g , the th a t the p e r p e tr a to r had been s ile n c e d fo re v e r. s tu d e n t ab se n te e r a te a t the Boston a r e a 's many He becam e l e s s s a n g u in e , however, upon being c o lle g e s and u n iv e r s itie s and in the b u sin e ss rem inded by s t a t e agronomy e x p e rts t h a t , upon e sta b lish m e n ts of the c e n te r c ity was n o ta b ly im p act, th e b e a s tly th in g may w e ll have strew n h ig h e r than norm al. G reengrocers re p o rte d a ru sh p o te n tia lly l e t h a l se e d lin g s randomly throughout on w a te r m e lo n s a n d , when th e s u p p ly was the a r e a , p erhaps s e ttin g the sta g e fo r s im ila r e x h a u s te d , on honeydews, c a n ta lo u p e s, casab as, tra g e d ie s to come. and cranshaw s as w e ll. A lso to be fa c e d was the p o s s i b i l i t y th a t Some held to the theory th a t m ini m utant mel th e re were o th e r m ature m u ta n t m elons o f th e ons and se e d lin g s of same had somehow mesmerized winged v a r ie ty lu rk in g (dumbly ly in g , a c tu a lly ) the young people of Cambridge in to secu rin g the in p a tc h e s somewhere in r u r a l New England (where f r u i t as a k ind of s a c r i f i c i a l o ffe rin g to w hat even norm al w aterm elons had n o t been know to grow ever b e a s tly f r u i t s m ight be in the a re a , b u t b e f o r e ) . th is of course was f a r - f e tc h e d . What in f a c t had The u s u a l, though p o s s ib ly f u t i l e , p re c a u tio n s happened was th a t hundreds of the young men and were taken by F e d e ra l, s t a t e , and c iv ic o f f i women of the Boston a re a in g e n e ra l and Cambridge c i a l s , f e a r f u l of s p re a d in g c a ta s tro p h e . The in p a r t i c u l a r had decided to pursue th e ir own s ta te m i l i t i a and the N atio n al Guard were placed odd, r i t u a l of sym bolic s u p p lic a tio n to w hatever on Red A le rt. An e ld e r ly b r i l l i a n t s c i e n t i s t and or whoever re q u ire d i t . p ro fe s s o r of b io lo g y —a N o b e lis t no le s s - - w a s coaxed o u t o f r e tir e m e n t to help uncover and On G arden S t r e e t in one ram bling old Cape an a ly z e se e d lin g s and o th e r m u tan ts, i f any, and Codder in p a r t i c u l a r , i t s four young o ccupants— seek ways of re n d e rin g them h a rm le ss—o r a t l e a s t two women and two men ranging in age from 26 to f r ie n d ly . He in tu rn in s is te d th a t h is b e a u tif u l 31—had c a lle d in s ic k to th e ir p la c e s of employ young d a u g h te r, a b r i l l i a n t s c i e n t i s t in her own ment and seemed c o n te n t to s i t around the house r ig h t, be b ro u g h t in to a s s i s t him in h is r e smoking p o t and snacking on v a r ie tie s of melon se a rc h e s. Q uite n a tu r a lly , an a rro g a n t b u t b a s i se v e ra l tim es a day. c a lly d e c e n t young l i e u t e n a n t c o lo n e l o f th e A d in n e r (melon b a l l s and iced te a ) , Ja n e t U nited S ta te s M arine Crops was a ssig n e d to a s s i s t K resge, the house e ld e r a t 31—a te a c h e r of com the f a th e r and d a u g h te r in w h a te v e r ways he p o s itio n a t T u fts — remarked th a t perhaps she was c o u ld . As m ig h t be e x p e c te d , he im m ediately g e ttin g too fa r along in l i f e to be p lay in g such earned the o ld m an's f a th e r ly a f f e c tio n and g ra d s i l l y games and th a t maybe the same could be said u a lly m e lte d th e d a u g h te r's I n i t i a l h o s t i l i t y of h er housem ates as w e ll. in to the syrup of undying lo v e . M eanw hile, i t M arjorie H a llib u rto n , the youngest member of alm o st need n o t be n o te d , in the Pentagon, the the household, r e s p e c tf u lly d isa g re e d , "I think J o in t C h iefs of S ta ff s a t in alm ost continuous we should s ta y p u t fo r a more few days anyway. emergency s e s s io n , the lig h ts burned l a t e tn the R e a lly —w e've g o t to ta k e a s ta n d ." M a rjo rie Oval O ffic e , and te c h n ic ia n s worked 'round the w orked, when she worked, as a p a ste -u p a r t i s t for c lo c k a t th e D e p a rtm e n ts of A g r ic u ltu r e and g ra p h ic s tu d io s , h a /ln g receiv ed her hig h er edu I n t e r i o r . A b la c k cloud of gloom and impending c a tio n a t Rhode Isla n d School of D esign. doom hovered over the S eats of Power. And, w hile "A stand a g a in s t w hat?", J a n e t ch allen g ed . "Or in fa v o r of w hat?", asked Timothy E ren- "N o th in g new to re p o r t y e t, s i r " , sa id the b e rg , a b r i l l i a n t young m e te o ro lo g is t l a t e l y of C hief o f S ta f f . "No sig n s of s e e d lin g s , t h a t 's M assach u setts I n s t i t u t e of T e c h n o lo g y . He b i t fo r s u re " . in to a b a ll o f cranshaw . " T h a t's n o t w hat I'm "H a rv e y , I w a s n 't ask in g a b o u t s e e d lin g s " , hanging around the house f o r . I mean, h e l l , th is s a id the P re s id e n t a l i t t l e i r r i t a b l y , s ta rin g a t i s n 't the same a 'Nam o r the an ti-N u k e th in g . h is CoS w ith s l i g h t l y b lo o d sh o t e y es. " T h a t's a What a re we d e a lin g w ith here? A mass of w a te r, downstream problem we can d eal w ith l a t e r , assum p u lp , and s u g a r. The th in g 's n o t even a dumb ing I t is in f a c t a problem . What I w ant to know b e a s t. I t d i d n 't even have a b r a in , fo r G od's i s a re th e re any of those b ld fu ll-b lo w n jib o n le s s a k e " . around and i f so , how do we g e t r id of them?" Behind a cloud o f p o t smoke, Rafe D iefenbacker "We d o n 't have a c lu e y e t, Mr. P re s id e n t. "Not d isa g re e d : "How do we know w hether i t had a b ra in even a f t e r sc o u rin g the c o u n try sid e and p u ttin g o r n o t? The th in g had w ings, rig h t? You know the b e s t s c i e n t i f i c b ra in s we can fin d to work a n y th in g t h a t 's g o t wings th a t d o e s n 't have a exam ining what was l e f t of th a t th in g . My guess b r a i n ? ” An a s s i s t a n t manager of a superm arket is the whole th in g 's a c le v e r hoax—some tric k y b ra n c h , Rafe had m ajored In lo g ic a t Boston Uni l i t t l e scheme to em barrass u s. The whole a r e a 's a v e r s ity . hotbed o f ComSymps, you know—dow nright subver "Yeah, w hat a b o u t th a t, T im othy?", sa id Mar s iv e s a lm o st, and t h a t 's a f a c t " . j o r i e . " L is te n , H arvey", the P re s id e n t snapped, "I'm "Oh L ord", J a n e t moaned. n o t I n te r e s te d in your g u e sse s. T h a t's n o t what I M a rjo rie s a id , " J a n e t, d o n 't be so c y n ic a l. b ro u g h t you down h ere f o r . R ig h t now w hat con R a fe 's r i g h t — the th in g 's g o t to have had i n t e l c e rn s me m ost Is f a c ts o n ly ." He paused and h is lig e n c e . You know w hat I th in k ? I th in k th e g la re s o fte n e d . " P e rs o n a lly , I happen to ag ree E s t a b l i s h m e n t 's doing som ething k in d of funny w ith y o u — T h a t 's my r e a c tio n , anyway. B ut we number on u s. You know w hat I t Is w ith th is Ad c a n 't a ffo rd to take ch an ces. Suppose we p u t o u t m in is tr a tio n — th e y 'd lik e n o th in g b e t t e r than to a s to ry th a t the whole th in g 's a hoax and ev ery sq u e lc h d is s e n t and the lo g ic a l p la c e to b egin is body calms down? W h e re 'll we be i f a n o th e r one of w ith the u n d e r - th ir ty s e t." those th in g s shows up? Up the creek is w here, and J a n e t r o lle d h e r eyes and feig n ed a s ig h of you b e t t e r b e lie v e i t . You a g re e , Lance?" r e l i e f , and s a id , "W ell, I guess th a t l e t s me o ff The p r e s id e n ts 's p re s s s e c re ta ry nodded Yes, the hook". then s a id , " I t ' s k in d of am azing, Mr. P re s id e n t. "Ho, ho, h o ", sa id M arjo rie w ith o u t sm ilin g . We may be d e a lin g w ith the q u ie te s t m ajor emer Timothy pushed away h is p la te of melon b a l l s . gency In the h is to ry of the c o u n try . W e're n o t " I s t i l l d o n 't buy the governm ent p lo t b i t " , he g e ttin g a n y th in g lik e r e a l p re ssu re to g e t to the s a id . El P re s id e n te and th a t crowd around him bottom of th i s . The p re ss room guys a r e n 't asking j u s t a r e n 't sm art enough to come up w ith some too many q u e s tio n s , e ith e r . Not even the h o s tile th in g as w eird as th is " . ones th a t a re gunning fo r u s. R e a lly , you'd think "W ell, th e n , who did come up w ith i t ? ” , asked the whole th in g was some kind of n o n -e v e n t. I f we R afe, p a ssin g a ro a c h to M a rjo rie . d i d n 't know i t a c tu a lly happened". " A lle n f o r c e s , m aybe", T im othy su g g e ste d . " I n te r e s tin g p o in t" , s a id the P re s id e n t. "Do "Som e c a t s fro m a n o t h e r p l a n e t who f e e l we know fo r a f a c t th a t i t did?" th re a te n e d by w hat w e 're ding to o u rse lv e s down "Our sam plings say th e r e 's some sk e p tic ism on h ere and a re sending us a message to g e t ou r a c t th a t s c o re " , the p o l l s t e r s a id . to g e th e r or e ls e " . "Ah", sa id the P re s id e n t, "so H arvey's n o t the "Oh, God", groaned J a n e t. "What a c o lle c tio n only one t h a t 's g o t hoax on h is mind". of fla k e s we a r e " . She took a deep drag on the "W ell, I'm n o t su re I f hoax i s e x a c tly the roach th a t M a rjo rie had passed on to h e r,c h a ra c word, Mr. P re s id e n t" , sa id the p o l l s t e r . "Some t e r i s t i c frow n d e e p e n in g a s she e x h a le d th e th in g has a hoax. The re a d in g s I'm g e ttin g a re smoke. Than, the frown s t i l l i n t a c t , she began to th a t a l o t of p eople a re th in k in g what you j u s t g ig g le , and th a t In tu rn seemed to s ig n a l her s a id — th a t maybe n o th in g happened a t a l l " . housem ates to do lik e w is e . "W ell, I d i d n 't e x a c tly say th a t, B u rt. And anyway, i t ' s o u t of the q u e stio n . There was a l l In a sp ra w lin g , m u lti-g a b le d house s e t a sid e th a t w a te r and the pulp a n d ...a n d y e s, the casu fo r him in H olyoke, M a ssa c h u se tts, as a tem porary a l t i e s . L e t's n o t fo r g e t the c a s u a ltie s " . h e a d q u a rte rs -c u m -la b o ra to ry , the k in d ly o ld p ro "Mr. P re s id e n t, I'm n o t saying I b e lie v e what fe s s o r of b io lo g y and s c i e n t i s t opened the door p eople a re sa y in g . I t ' s I n te r e s tin g , though, th a t to one of the sp a re bedrooms to d is c o v e r h is p eople should be th in k in g th a t way. I t ' s as I f b r i l l i a n t young s c ie n t i s t / d a u g h t e r having sex th e r e 's a kin d o f n a tio n a l d e n ia l of w hat you and w ith h is a i d e , th e M arine C orps l i e u t e n a n t I , a l l of us h e re , know to be the tr u th " . c o lo n e l. The old man slammed the door s h u t and "R ig h t", the p re s s s e c re ta ry a g reed . s h u ffle d a n g r ily o ff to h is own room, m u tte rin g , "Yes” , chimed in the C hief of S ta f f . "Damn i t , w h e re 's th e work e th ic ? I 'd never have The P re s id e n t turned to h is p re ss s e c re ta ry , in s is te d they h ir e S h e ila to o , i f I thought she "S tra n g e . But w hat I 'd lik e to know i f what we was going to c a rry on lik e t h i s . Damn! And I was should be doing a b o u t i t . H ere, in th is o f f ic e . I j u s t b eg in n in g to lik e th a t young man. Damn, d o n 't t r u s t the eggheads to come up w ith a r a damn, damn!" tio n a l e x p la n a tio n anytim e soon and God know what w ill happen i f we have a n o th e r c a ta stro p h e on our hands. A few hours l a t e r , se a te d in the Oval O ffic e "What I'm g e ttin g a t is th a t I 'd ra th e r a c t w ith h is C hief o f S ta f f , h is p r in c ip le p o l l s t e r , than r e a c t. What I'm ask in g i s , how do we p o s i and the W hite House p re s s s e c r e ta r y , P re s id e n t tio n o u rse lv e s to tu rn th is th in g to our advan E berly asked fo r an update on the s itu a tio n . ta g e , p u b lic -p e rc e p tlo n -w ls e , or a t l e a s t to keep 20 o u rse lv e s from g e ttin g too b adly h u rt by e v e n ts come on, Ben. T h a t's a p i l e of b u l l s h i t and you we c a n 't p r e d ic t and c a n 't c o n tro l? " know I t . Look, I d o n 't blame him fo r try in g . I "We c o u ld d e c la r e a n a tio n a l emergency and mean, i f I was in h is sh o es, I 'd try and g e t i n s t i t u t e m a rtia l law ", s a id the C hief o f S ta f f . C ongress to sh are the blam e, too. Why the h e ll "Ix n a y ", sa id th e P re s id e n t. "Dumb Id e a . Our n o t? ...W e ll, fo r one th in g , a r e you fo rg e ttin g enem ies up on th e H ill would have a f ie ld day where I come from? The melon grow ers in my d is w ith th a t one—n o t to m ention the h u m ilia tio n of t r i c t would have me beheaded, p lu ck ed , and e v is having the Supreme C ourt c u ttin g us o f f a t the c e ra te d b e fo re I could b a t an eye i f I went along k n ees. D o n 't you a g re e , gentlem en?" w ith t h i s s c h e m e ... You w a n t my p e r s o n a l "A b s o lu te ly " , s a id the p o l l s t e r . o p in io n ? . . .O ff the re c o rd ? . . . A ll r i g h t , I th in k " In s p a d e s " , added the p re s s s e c r e ta r y . He i t ' s a shrew d p la y . I f so m eth in g d o e s n 't go sa id f u r th e r , "B ut w hat we could do Is I n v ite wrong. S ure. He g iv e s the appearance of d e a lin g C ongress to I n te r f a c e w ith us on th is . You know, w ith a dangerous problem w ith o u t je o p a rd iz in g too seek th e ir c o u n se l, and a l l the r e s t . Then, i f much of h is su p p o rt in the p ro c e ss. Smart move. som ething goes w rong, we can sa y , Well why s tic k I f i t w o rk s...B e n , p le a se be so kind as to n o t i t a l l on us when those guys were j u s t a s r e ap p eal to my sense of p a tr io tis m . I d o n 't need sp o n sib le " . you to t e l l me w h a t's p a t r i o t i c and what i s n 't , "Not b a d ", sa id P re s id e n t E b erly , b u t i t d o es understand? I'm j u s t n o t going to run the r is k of n ' t sound d ra m a tic enough. L e t's p u t th a t on hold being blown o u t of the w ater when th e r e 's so fo r a few m in u te s, OK? A ll r i g h t , B u rt, i t ' s your l i t t l e upside p o t e n t i a l and so much dow nside tu r n " . r i s k . L is te n , the boys a re w a itin g fo r me to g e t "W ell, s i r , th is k ind o f s tr a te g iz in g i s n o t back to the game. T e ll the P re s id e n t Thanks, b u t e x a c tly my th in g , and I hope Harvey and Lance no th an k s—and th a t I s in c e re ly hope he can b rin g d o n 't th in k I'm s tic k in g my nose in to w hat d o es i t o f f . 'N ig h t" . n ' t concern me, b u t i f you d o n 't mind, S ir e , I do th in k th a t p erh ap s I m ight have a — " Admiral Hieronymus Bosh, chairm an o f the J o in t "Out w ith i t , B u rt" , sa id the P re s id e n t. " I C h iefs of S ta f f , pounded a f i s t down on the huge c a n 't stan d the su sp e n se ". ro o m -le n g th co n feren ce ta b le , v ib r a tin g i t fo r "R ight! W ell, w hat I would do i s have A g ric u l a l l the a tte n d in g b e-m ed alled , b e-rlbboned b ra ss tu re p u t a ban on m elons. A cross the b o a rd . In to f e e l . "G entlem en", he d e c la re d , i t ' s the So d e f i n i t e l y . No grow ing them, no h a rv e s tin g w h a t's v i e t s th a t a re behind th e . I'm convinced o f I t " . on the ground, no im p o rtin g . N othing. G et rid of "And he k id s you n o t" , sa id h is m ilita r y a id e , the problem a t th e so u rc e . U n til, th a t i s , we s i t t i n g as h is s id e . fin d o u t p r e c is e ly w hat the so u rce I s " . "Y e a h ", s a id Admiral Bosh, "and th a t l i l y - "G re a t!" shouted the P re s id e n t. " I buy i t . I liv e r e d c r e t i n on P ennsylvania Avenue re fu s e s to buy I t a l l ! Good g o in g , B u rt. I t ' s d ra m a tic , I t ' s do a damn th in g a b o u t i t , much le s s to acknow dynam ic. I t says w e 're on top of th in g s . J u s t led g e th a t t h a t 's w hat those Mongol hordes a re up t e r r i f i c ” . to " . "N ice g o in g ", sa id the c h ie f of s t a f f , "e x c e p t "Ron," sa id G eneral of the Army F a ls ta f f from fo r one th in g . The Farm Lobby—T h e y 'll m u rd er a c ro ss the ta b le ," p le a s e ! T h a t's the P r e s id e n t u s” . y o u 're ta lk in g a b o u t. The Com m ander-In-Chief. Our "Screw 'em ", th e P re s id e n t s a id . "They d o n 't Com m ander-in-Chlef. L e t's g iv e him the b e n e f it of have the v o te s to h u rt us much anym ore". the d o u b t. L e t's g iv e him a chance". "T ru e", sa id th e C hief of S ta f f . "A chance to make us a l l s i t t i n g ducks? Is The p re ss s e c re ta ry s a id , " I t ' s k ind of hig h th a t w hat you mean? Bosh demanded. h a n d e d , th o u g h . W hat a b o u t C o n g re ss and the "A chance to fo rm u la te a re sp o n se ", sa id Gen c o u rts on th a t one?” e r a l F a ls ta f f . "Not the same th in g " , sa id the P re s id e n t. "The His face b e e t-re d now, Admiral Bosh sho u ted , o f f ic e o f the P re s id e n t has the r ig h t to d eal " F o rm u la te ? F o rm u la te ? T hat s e n ile f o o l's had w ith n a tu r a l d is a s te r s and the r e s t of i t in any th re e weeks to fo rm u la te . And what does he come way i t sees f i t a s long a s we d o n 't ste p on c i v i l up w ith? A ban on m elons. My god!" r i g h t s ” . He paused fo r e f f e c t b e fo re a d d in g , "Or "W ell, a t l e a s t i t ' s In n o v a tiv e , kind o f" , said le a n too hard on those boy sc o u ts a t the N a tio n a l A ir Force G eneral Ben E rrlc so n from the fa r end R ifle A sso c ia tio n " . of the ta b le . Everybody laughed. " I n n o v a tiv e , my a s s " , sa id Bosh ev en ly . He "Good m e e tin g " , s a id th e P r e s id e n t. "Good leaned forw ard as i f to w hisper in confidence and th in k in g . OK, gentlem en—l e t ' s do the n e c e ssa ry !" s a id , " l i s t e n , I d o n 't mean to be c r u e l, b u t the poor b a s ta r d 's e v id e n tly o f f h is gourd and i f At an e x c lu s iv e m en's club n e a r the W aterg ate, th e r e 's a n y th in g we d o n 't need s te e rin g the Ship the Speaker o f the House o f R e p re se n ta tiv e s con of S ta te a t a tim e lik e th i s , Is some fla k y old s e n te d g ru d g in g ly to i n t e r r u p t h is bi-w eekly p o l w ho's g o t i t In fo r the Farm Lobby. G en tle p in o c h le game to take a telep h o n e c a ll from the men, w e've g o t to take the b u ll by the h orns, W hite House O ffic e o f C o n g ressio n al L ia iso n . c a l l a sp ad e a s p a d e , and fa c e th e compass "Yeah? . . .W h at's u p ...Y o u 'r e k id d in g . . .Maybe N orth". you c a l l i t the only lo g ic a l course of a c tio n , "And what" sa id G eneral E rrlc so n , "does th a t b u t I c a l l i t a l i t t l e e x tre m e ... No. No, Ben, mean?" count me o u t. I d o n 't want any p a r t of i t . . . W e l l , " I t m eans, sa id Bosh, a l i t t l e louder now, I'm su re the P re s id e n t would love i t a l o t i f I " th a t the P r e s id e n t's In c a p a c ita te d and th a t the g o t behind t h i s , and I 'd love to accommodate him, Vice P re s id e n t should take over te m p o ra rily ” . b u t ...F i n e , th en . I f h e 's p rep ared to go i t a lo n e "Who decided th a t? " E rrlc so n demanded. w ith o u t sa n c tio n from C a p ito l h i l l , t h a t 's h is Bosh fla sh e d a k in d ly sm ile . " I 'v e been back b u s in e s s . Then you d o n 't need me a n y w a y ...O h , and f o r t h on th e h o rn a l l m orning w ith th e 21 Speaker of the House. H e's been jaw boning w ith a d d in g , "Out of the k itc h e n and back up to your h is crowd and w ith the S enate le a d e rs h ip and some bedroom, poor d e a rs " . of the fo lk s up a t the W hite House who s h a ll be "F a th e r! How could you!" n am eless, and th in g s a re b eginning to move In the " T h a t's r i g h t , s i r , sa id the m arine o f f ic e r . d ir e c tio n we w ant them to go” . "Y ou've g o t no r ig h t to —" "you mean the d ir e c tio n you want them to go", But b e fo re he could u t t e r a n o th e r w ord, a h a ll G eneral F a l l s t a f f c h a lle n g e d . o f kumquats th e s i z e and d e n s ity o f m e te o rs "Wrong. The le a d e rs h ip on C a p ito l H i l l 's be slammed down on th e o ld house, I n s ta n tly demol hind me on t h i s . T h e y 're g e ttin g u n b e lie v a b ly is h in g I t and I t s I n h a b ita n ts . amounts of sh ra p n e l from the boonles a b o u t th is dumb melon th in g , and f e e l i t ' s tim e to a c t" . In the Cape Codder on Garden S tr e e t In Cam "My G od", s a id E r r l c s o n , h is v o ic e b a re ly b rid g e , J a n e t Kresge poured f r e s h c o ffe e in to two under c o n tr o l, t a l l tum blers h a l f - f i l l e d w ith Ic e . She handed "sounds to me as i f y o u 're ta lk in g coup, H ierony one to M a rjo rie H a llib u rto n . J a n e t held up her mus" . g la s s as I f to make a to a s t, and s a id , "W ell, His face even re d d e r, Bosh slapped the ta b le h e r e 's to the A pocalypse!" lo u d ly w ith the f l a t of h is hand to s ile n c e the "and to Armageddon", sa id M a rjo rie , extending caco p h o n y o f g a sp s, s ig h s , sh o u ts, and groans h e r g la s s . " L e t's n o t fo rg e t Armageddon". th a t f i l l e d the room. "B en", he s a id , p o in tin g a "And to Dark F orces everyw here", sa id J a n e t fin g e r a t E rrlc s o n , " y o u 're e n tir e ly o u t of lin e b e fo re tak in g a deep s ip o f c o ffe e . She c lin k e d on th a t one. You ought to be ashamed. What do you the Ic e In h er g la s s . "W here", she a sk e d , "a re mean 'c o u p '? My God, man, th is i s a democracy we the male persons? li v e In and d o n 't you e v e r fo r g e t I t . Yeah, s u re - "Back a t w ork", sa id M a rjo rie . "T hey've gone - I w ant th e Old Man o u t of the way fo r a w h ile . back, I 'v e gone back, and you n ev er stopped. So, But no b o d y 's fle x in g any m uscles. W e 're g o in g norm alcy re ig n s once a g a in In ou r happy house through th e p ro c e s s . I t ' s a l l le g a l, Ben, a l l on hold" . the up-and-up. you have my word f o r th a t" . " N o r m a lity " , J a n e t c o r r e c t e d . " N o rm a lity "And he k id s you n o t!" d e c la re d ad m iral B osh's r e ig n s ” . stau n ch a id e de camp. "Yes and n o " , M arjo rie s a id , "depending on w hich d ic tio n a ry you u se. L is te n , you heard the WASHINGTON, O ct. 14 (A P )--P re sId e n t E berly news, I suppose". today re lin q u is h e d " te m p o ra rily fo r re a so n s "No—w hat news?" of h e a lth " h is e x e c u tiv e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s . "From H o ly o k e. S om ething stra n g e happened. Vice P re s id e n t F a n b e lt w ill se rv e as Some o ld house g o t smashed to sm ith e re e n s". a c tin g p r e s id e n t d u rin g the Interreg n u m . "A tornado?" D e ta ils of P re s id e n t E b e r le 's c o n d i "No. Are you ready fo r th is ? Something f e l l on tio n were n o t im m ediately a v a ila b le . P ress the house. Something b ig and, uh, p u lp y , and—" S e c re ta ry C la sh e r s a id a " c l a r i f i c a t i o n " "W aterm elon, rig h t? " would be Issu e d s h o r tly . " —p u lp y , and oran g e, and liq u id ” . A h ig h W hite House o f f i c i a l whose "What kind of melon has the orange meat?" id e n tity was n o t g iven sa id the P re s id e n t "D o n 't know. D o n 't even know I f I t was melon. has been e x p e rie n c in g "hem orrhoidal discom Or even f r u i t . Very p u z z lin g to the people o u t f o r t" fo r the p a s t s e v e ra l weeks. th e re , b u t they th in k I t ' s som ething lik e what I t Is n o t known w hether the c o n d itio n happened n e a r the Coop, and I f t h a t 's so , I t ' s w ill re q u ire su rg e ry . bad new s". Vice P re s id e n t F a n b e lt sa id he has had "Yeah, J a n e t murmured. "When a re th e guys due " u n lim ite d " a c c e ss to P r e s id e n tia l b r ie f in g home? ' books and c h a ra c te riz e d h im se lf as " w e ll- " I th in k t h e y 'l l b o th be here fo r d in n e r" . inform ed" on the key Issu e s p re s e n tly f a c "Good. Maybe I t ' s tim e fo r a l i t t l e c o n s u lt. ing th e Oval O ffic e . We r e a lly ought to d ecid e w hether I t ' s sa fe to be P r e s i d e n t E b e r l e 's w hereabouts were in th is house fo r the tim e b e in g ". n o t know, and W hite House a id e s d e c lin e d to "M arjo rie added, "Or o u t of d o o rs, or some d is c u s s them, adding th a t d e t a i l s of h is where In the c o u n try sid e , or anyw here. I f w hat I l l n e s s and the approxim ate d a te of re tu rn ever the h e ll I t is c o n tin u e s to do w hatever the to the W hite House w ill be given In "due h e ll I t ' s d o in g , who knows where the b e s t p la c e tim e " . to be I s " . "S ca ry , huh?” M eanwhile, in a sp raw lin g old house In Holy "Y es". oke, M a ssa c h u se tts, a M arine C rops l i e u t e n a n t T ears began to s lid e down M a rjo rie 's cheeks. c o lo n e l asked a k in d ly old p r o f e s s o r / s c l e n t l s t I f J a n e t p u t h e r Iced c o f f e e down and h e r arm s melons have p i t u i t a r y g la n d s. a ro u n d M a r j o r i e 's s h o u ld e r s . "Hang In th e re , "No, dummy, they do n o t!" snapped the KOP/S. k id " , she s a id . "No need to be te s t y , s i r " , s a id the l i e u t e n " M a r jo r ie p u lle d away from h e r, a h in t of a n t c o lo n e l. e a r n e s t puzzlem ent In h er s tric k e n e x p re s s io n , " F a th e r, I th in k y o u 're b eing b e a s tly to Flem and s a id , sim ply, "S u re, w hat e ls e Is th e re to in g to n " , s a id the KOP/S's comely d a u g h te r. do?" "W ell, I f I am, I t ' s j u s t too damn bad. I f your p re c io u s Flem c a n 't stan d the h e a t, w e ll, he In the o f f ic e of V ic e -P re sid e n t F a n b e lt, Ad o u g h t to g e t o u t o f th e k itc h e n " . The KOP/S m ira l Hieronymus Bosh s a id , " I t 's y o u r f in g e r paused, a p p a re n tly fo r e f f e c t , and took in the tha t ' s on the b u tto n now, Barney, maybe I t ' s time young man and woman over h is h a lf - g la s s e s b e fo re to l e t the S o v ie ts know fo r once and fo r a l l th a t 22 th is s h i t ' s g o t to c e a se , th a t they b e t t e r p u n ish am? . . . Wha t? . . .Who a re th e se men? How d are you the a s s h o le s who a r e re s p o n s ib le and th a t they come in to my room w ith o u t k n o ck in g ?. . .G et your damned w e ll b e t t e r be p re p a re d to come up w ith f i l t h y hands o ff m e!. . .G e t.. .What is i t ? . . . G e t some s t i f f re p a r a tio n s " . th a t th in g o ff of m e ...G e t I t o f f ! ...D o you h ear "R on", sa id th e Vice P re s id e n t, " y o u 're t a l k m e...DO YOU HEAR ME? THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED ing dangerous s t u f f . We've g o t no evidence th a t STATES OF AMERICA IS ORDERING YOU TO GET— " th e y 'r e behind t h i s " . "Of co u rse we d o n 't! " Bosh s p a t. "Good God, A ccording to w hat could be g a th e re d from the B arney, th e y 'r e to o c le v e r to le a v e spoor around. newly u n earth ed a n c ie n t documents a f t e r they were I t e l l you we c a n 't a ffo rd to l e t th o se b a s ta rd s chem ically tr e a te d to r e s to r e th e ir l e g i b i l i t y , g e t away w ith i t " . w hat seem to have happened back then was th is : "B u t— ” On th e t h i r d o f November th a t y e a r, la rg e " L is te n , B arney, am I a sk in g you to blow 'em p a r ts of N orth A m erican, C e n tr a l and E a s te rn o u t o f the w ater w ith e v e ry th in g w e've got? No! E u ro p e , M ic r o n e s ia , th e In d ia n s u b c o n tin e n t, I'm a man o f p e a c e , Barney. I t ' s the mark o f a n o rth e rn C hina, and w estern Samoa were bombarded- m ilita r y p ro . No, s i r ! I'm n o t a sk in g you to go -1 1 t e r a l l y bom barded— by s tr a n g e l y o u ts iz e d , o ff th e deep end. Not y e t. Warn 'em f i r s t . Make a p p a re n tly r o t t i n g , f r u i t of a l l k in d s and d es 'em g ro v e l. Make ’em pay up. Then, i f they d o n 't c rip tlo n s . w ant to p lay b a l l , we l e t 'em have i t w ith a l l G reen g ra p e s a s b ig and heavy as m edicine w e've g o t. R ight?" b a l l s , g ia n t F re e sto n e p e a c h e s, Baldwin a p p le s , " R ig h t. No. No! T h a t's n o t w hat I mean. I m assive n e c ta r in e s , mangoes, ta n g e lo s , and ta n mean, l i s t e n , Ron, I need to th in k th is o u t. I f g e r in e s , immense fu zzy k iw is , Bose p e a rs th e we o n ly had more evidence th a t they were r e a lly h e ig h t of t a l l b u ild in g s , lemons and lim es and behind t h i s " . b ig Bing c h e r r ie s , and m assive b lu e b e rrie s and Adm iral Bosh shrugged h is sh o u ld e rs and p ursed b l a c k b e r r i e s and ra s p b e r r ie s and b o y se n b e rrie s h is l i p s and dug h im se lf deeper in to the so fa he and s tra w b e r r ie s , and m o u n ta in -siz e pom egranates, was s i t t i n g in . "OK, Mr. Vice P re s id e n t. S u it and huge Hawaiian bananas as t a l l a s totem s, and y o u r s e lf . But I t ' s n o t j u s t your a ss t h a t 's up p la n ta in s and b r e a d f r u it and coconuts as b ig as f o r g r a b s . E v e r y t h i n g 's a t sta k e h ;e r e . Why, h i l l s , and g ig a n tic g r a p e f r u it, and plum s, f ig s , th o se gooks co u ld be p lan n in g r ig h t th is v e ry d a te s , a n d ...a n d on and on and on. And on—u n til second to la y open the whole N orth American con much of the c i v i l i z a t i o n of th e Free and C aptured t i n e n t fo r a l l we know". W orlds were decim ated through drowning and p u l "R on, I 'v e g o t to ta lk to my people a b o u t v e r iz a tio n and c ru sh in g . t h i s . I ' l l g e t b a c k to you". We can only be g r a te f u l th a t some humans and "OK, B arney", s a id Bosh, pushing h im se lf o u t c e r ta in s p e c ie s o f anim al l i f e somehow managed to o f th e so fa and p u llin g s t r a i g h t th e h e a v ily su rv iv e th a t t e r r i b l e p e rio d to re p ro p a g a te the m edalled and rib b o n s ja c k e t of h is uniform . " S u it E a rth and make i t ready fo r fu tu r e d is a s te r s . y o u r s e lf . But d o n 't take too lo n g . In d e c isiv e n e ss The g e n e sis of the " F r u it W ars", as they a re i s a c u rs e , you know. I t ' s w hat did in His N ibs— now beginning to be know, is s t i l l to be d e te r R ight?" m ined, b u t sc ie n c e w ill s u re ly fin d an e x p lan a "What do you mean?" tio n w ith which to sla k e our c u r io s ity . And, I f a " I mean, te m p o riz in g , f a i l i n g to a c t d e c is iv e documented e x p la n a tio n cannot be found, one w ill, l y , try in g th a t dumb ban-the-m elon fia s c o a s an o f c o u rse , be Invented so th a t the mythology of e x p e d ie n t— t h a t 's w hat s e n t E b e rle to the loony our d e c lin in g p la n e t w ill hold no more m y ste rie s h a tc h " . fo r i t s reduced and f e a r f u l m a sse s.a "B osh, y o u 'r e o u t of o rd e r on th a t one", sa id th e V ice P r e s id e n t s h a rp ly . "G e ttin g away fo r a w h ile to d e a l w i t h a l i t t l e em otional s t r e s s i s n 't the same a s going c ra z y ". "T ru e", A dm iral Bosh a g re e d , g e n tly a d ju s tin g th e c ro tc h of h is ra z o r-c re a s e d tr o u s e r s , "b u t i t ' s som ething to th in k a b o u t anyway, B arney. A word to the w is e , you know".

" I d i s t i n c t l y did n o t o rd e r th a t c a tsu p be mixed in to my c h o c o la te pudding", sa id P re s id e n t- In -A b se n tia E b e rle to the n u rse who had wheeled h is lunch in to th e padded, h e a v ily guarded room. "W ill somebody k in d ly g e t the W hite House chef down here to cook me a d e c e n t meal fo r a change? My God, no w o n d e r t h i s p la c e Is loaded w ith p sy c h o tlc s when they have to e a t th is s lo p . Now, l i s t e n h e re , young la d y . T his time I'm n o t tak in g no fo r an a n sw e r. You c a ll th e White House r ig h t now and t e l l them e ith e r I'm coming back today or th ey b e tte r q u lc k -lik e -a -b u n n y plug tn the e le c t r o n i c s down h e re so I can s t a r t running the c o u n try again l i k e I'm being p a id to do. Now l i s t e n , young woman, th is tim e I'm n o t fo o lin g aro u n d . As a m a tte r of f a c t I'm g e ttin g o u t of th is p lace r i g h t now an d ...w h y a re you p re ssin g t h a t th in g , n u r s e ? . . . Don' t you know who I 23 d if f e r e n t women in a h ig h -te c h , low-human The Needle on Full: Lesbian re la tio n s world breaking out of the ritu a ls of iso la tio n to find each other ( " Night L ife " ), or Feminist Science Fiction w ith a women’ s community debating the appropriate response to a group o f men in prim arily female post-holocaust London ("London F ie ld s " ), we can by Caroline Forbes id e n tify w ith them. They drink tea (The women in "London Fields" drink mint te a .) and disagree and r e b e l a g a in s t t h e ir m o th e rs , and c re a te Judy Goldsmith comrnuuities. The c o lle c tio n includes the n ovella, "The I had a sudden moment of hesitation recently, Comet’s T a il" . I t is the story of a long-term when I pulled out Caroline Forbes’ * Ssedle On space voyage, chronicling not only the ground Full (Only Woman Press, 1985). Perhaps this wet saga and p o lit ic s o f such an endeavor, but not a good choice to read aloud to the predomi p rim arily the liv e s o f two women isolated fo r nantly straig h t group present? My doubts were many years from everyone except each other (and ufounded; everyone enjoyed the story "The V ls i* the occasional contact from E arth). Ue feel the tors* as much as 1 bad on ay- f i r s t two readings. w e ig h t o f y e a rs in V iv ie n n e and P ran u l’ e What sakes me reread a story? I read "The re la tio n s h ip , es i t slowly evolves from two Visitors'* for the f i r s t tine fo r the flow o f the isolated people to a community of two. These are story, the p lo t. I reread fo r specific images, not ideal lesbians, creating instant community, and for the use of Language. Paragraphs, as w ell in s ta n tly in love. Their love Is a product of a as images, stuck w ith me: l i f e shared, not out of tb e ir own choice, but the "F ran k ", M argot’ s tone was bushed. choice o f a man. And th e ir love is not the " I t ’s one of those fly in g saucers is n ’ t i t , enduring Love of fa ir y ta le s , but a re a l, human and them, they*re l i t t l e green men." Margot emotion which responds to the pressure a o f two had seen Cldse Fnccuntere, and cried her very d iffe re n t people, Isolated from the re s t of way through PT three times J She knew. the world, perhaps forever. These women are also There la sows thing so wonderfully ordinary in s c ie n tis ts , honored back on E a rth fo r the this story. Margot reaalns true to the form o f a im portant and b r illia n t work they do while In proper Englishwoman, throughout. Vben the alien s space. I t le good to read about scien tists who have incinerated Frank, end are gathering th e ir are women and s t i l l very human, u n lik e the courage to investigate the house, she has a cup superwomen we find in much of tra d itio n a l (male- of tea! In the e ld s t of chaos, the cup of tea authored) science fic tio n . reminds us that we are in present-day England, There are sone weaknesses in the collection. surrounded by the Mundane world. "That was the T h ere a re gim m ick s t o r i e s , such as "The wonder of tea, she thought, i t made anything you Transplant", and ones worth reading ju s t once. were doing seen normal i f you had a cup." But on the whole, the stories are about women we Margot proceeds to tre a t the aliens as v is ito rs , could s i t down w ith, drink tea w ith, and talk to. and th e ir v is it as good fortune. 1 w ill leave the They have f u l l liv e s as scie n tis ts , students, descriptions of the a lien s themselves, and th eir wives, daughters, mothers, and lovers. This, more v is it , to future readers. than the p o lit ic o , makes th is c o lle c tio n a The other s to rie s In the book are set In fe m in is t one. I f we accept M a rily n F r y e ’ s various worlds, Including possible variation s of d e fin itio n ( In The F o itfw a o f Reality) of a this one. I t Is oot the creation of new worlds lesbian as a woman who sees women, then these are that makes this an excitin g co lle c tio n . Rather, c le a rly lesbian stores. 1 strongly recommend this i t Is the focussing on women we can recognize in book to anyone, regardless o f sex, or sexual a l l these worlds th a t makes these s to rie s p re fe re n c e , who wants to read s to rie s about satisfying to read. Whether we are w ith four very re a lis tic women.* A Brief Survey of Women in Comics by Hank Luttrell Among the small press, black and white comics, I don’ t want anyone to suppose that this note tTomur is one of the oldest and most is going to cover this topic comprehensively. 1 popular undergrounds. I t was la s t Gasp Publishers mean, there have been books w ritten on the sub second t i t l e , but recently switched to Renegade je c t. ( I recommend the recent Women by Comics, who promise to publish i t more often. Robbins and Yronwode, Eclipse Books 1986). i t is T ita if C lits has had 6 Issues. Since I t ia one of appropriate to try to c ite ease of the news and the fu n n ie s t undergrounds around, i t Is great recent developments fo r women creators in a fie ld that a l l the Issues w ill soon be in p rin t again. where they are Inportant and popular, comics. My fa v o r ite new underground is Dori Seda's My favo rite comic published by the two major ffigh t s , her f ir s t solo book, a fte r having publishers is Love (DC), humor in a modern stories in Fiiwwn's. Lee Marra, who contributed urban background, by Barbara Slate. I think the to both of the series mentioned above, recently a r t Is as w ell designed and expressive as John joined the flood of funny animal comics having Stanley's L ittle Lulu* The current secies ended long t i t l e s w ith Kung Fu with 18, w ith a great cliffh an g er. The t i t l e is to return in several months w ith a 32 page spec Hey, gang, I know. You can w rite and le t us ia l. — - know what who your favo rite women cartoons are, ^ 4 and why. • Feline Eyes

by Paul Grussendorf

That morning was unlike others. W ell, sure, a t c h ild re n , not hers, and besides, George wants f l ra t a l l mornings s ta rt tbs same. 1 awoke and children, and mine are very cute; but kitten s are stretched and bathed, f ir s t ay hands and fe e t, a pain in the neck, so i t 's ju s t as w ell that then the rest of ay sinuous, hairy anatomy. I get a fte r having experienced Motherhood I can relax upset i f sone thing disturbs this morning r itu a l. now and have sex without anxiety. But a fte r that I noticed something d iffe re n t about Ha ria *s routine, Eot about her ro u tin e S U U , her tone o f voice was a b it more e rra t morning a ffa irs ; her sweet la tin-accented chat ic , unsure of it s e lf , especially as sbe explained te r, her Eace, o liv e mediterranean skin, aglow as to me In the same breath how she wouldn't le t usual, but the tone of her voice told me some anything happen, but that she was re a lly horny, thing was d iffe re n t. At the breakfast table she not having flown out to see George in almost two explained she had a date that evening w ith her months. Also, when she’s upset her English pro boss. nunciation gets sloppy and aha gets "’ sheet" and I'v e n e t her boas, very charming, Lea the c - "s h it* mixed up. Having liv e d w ith her three Jacketed Ita lia n , bearded in te lle c tu a l, self-made years now, I know both English and Ita lia n , macho, but nice fello w , a likeable specimen from though only passively, and some smatterings of the land o f the Renaissance fiv e centuries a fte r French, which she only uses when she's entertain its decline. I t ’s not unusual fo r Maria to go out ing one of bur Lebanese friend s, or when sbe has with chare in g men, u su ally European, h e rs e lf Invited over some pathetic Vs shlng ton-American, being from that place and master (mistress?) of who thinks that bls use of French demonstrates a four Languages, although "cat" is not one of s te rlin g mastery of history, m ilita ry science, thee. and love science. Tbe science of copulation, or She explained to me, as she pushed me down how to get from a woman everything he wants while from the table, that she was In v itin g the Ita lia n convincing her he Is giving her everything sbe boss over fo r dinner and a peaceful evening In wants. A technical im possibility, but these sci front of the f ir e , since bls w ife was out of en tists often bathe In self-delusion. Such an ass town. She is frie n d s w ith b is w ife , so she could never manage to enter from behind and speak wouldn't think of le ttin g anything improper hap French a t the same time. pen, besides she never would anyway, George To top i t o ff, she didn’ t even ask me whether trusts bar so. she should wear pink or blue pantyhose today, a George la M aria's husband. He lives lo a place big morning Issue she never fa ils to bring up. called Oregon, where he Is finishing his doctor Sbe went o ff to work and I stayed home to keep ate degree in ra t dissection (poor bastards), and an eye on the neighborhood children and squir Maria and I liv e in Washington, D.C. in a lovely re ls . neighborhood with lots of squirrels. I'v e never been to Oregon but they say I t rains a l l the time, no place for a eat. As soon as George fin Dinner was over and they already had a fir e ishes his studies he w ill jo in Harla and me in an ro a rin g on th is fre e zin g February night. Sbe ecstasy of love and harmonious relationships and could have started i t h e rs e lf, having been a enlightened liv in g together and behaving Like Hew teenage Amazon In the Ita lia n g ir l scouts, but Renaissance creatures. one thing she had learned on bur own time is how (fa ria stays in D.C. now because she works a t to b o ls te r the male ego, Woman, the eternal the World Bank, In tbe section non!toting the assuager of tbs male-boy ego. God Is female, but World's population. Sbe had me spayed a fte r my was Jesus?, she wondered, starlag into hot mani f ir s t l i t t e r . I don't know I f there’s a connec folds of flames lapping and caressing a t the tion, because sbe always says she doesn't want b r it t le wood. Woman has an extra cross to bear; besides enduring child-bearing and child-rearing, the responsibility of children. They would be my 25 Woman must know everything thee man knows, plus ing, and, moat of a l l , M aria's confession to me bow to support his genetically In fe rio r ego. that she was so horny she could even fuck the Ringlets of blue smoke rose up from bar entail Ita lia n S ta llio n movie s ta r, i f she weren't a l c ig a r, harmonising w ith the smoke trow the f ir e . ready married to a wonderful American g ian t and I t ' s not ju s t sexual. Vovan can crush man anytime prospective Nobel Prise winner. she wants, ju s t by naklng an adverse reference I employed ay knowledge o f g u e rrilla tactics. about the Blas o f bls dick, or by In fe rrin g that Every tine they started to embrace 1 would demand his prowess in bed is not as earth-shattering as to be le t out, only to want back inside fiv e that of her la s t lo ver. But sore, even though She minutes Later. Once I stuck my smelly ass rig h t doesn't fik e love a l l the tin e . Woman must never In bls face; I hadn't washed i t a l l day ju s t for rest from her eternal mission: to genuflect tn the occasion* fro n t o f, understand and not be sadistic about, balance on her knees and enfold i t her breast, nan*b constant and vulnerable erection— his ego. He was delighted w ith himself as they entered Her boss was puffing on a p ip e, beaming with the bsthroom. She had incredible t i t t i e s , and he pride a t his accomplislaent w ith the f ir e . She d id n 't dare glance down a t her pelvic region for reached out and pulled the cat to her lap . She fe a r he'd g e t bard before having a chance to bad named i t Puzzets, Ita lia n fo r Stinky, because s lid e under the p ro te c tiv e la y e r o f bubbles. when f t was a k itte n I t had farted a lo t. She Everything was going ju s t as planned. Sbs had a liked to talk to i t because she was convinced d e lig h tfu l whirlpool bath, one of tbs rewards of th at, although i t couldn't understood the meaning bourgeois success a t the World lank. of her words, her tone oust be comprehensible and Everyone e t the Vorld Bank thinks of them reassuring to i t . selves as champions of a Hew and Just World Eco They had talked about work, and about George, nomic Order, the e lit e reaching out to the de and music, and p o litic s , and the p o lit ic s of prived masses. Why fe e l g u ilty about earning a p o litic s . She had put on V iv a ld i*s Four SazBone. damned good salary w hile fightin g against insur She was not proud o f her lack of knowledge of mountable odds to try to make the world better? c la s s ic a l m usic, but a t le a s t she knew that A fter a l l , be thought, Harla and I , and everyone V ivald i was a good bet on a cold evening w ith a else a t the bank, are highly trained profession dramatic fir e . als who devote th e ir liv e s to equality and decen I t had been so long since George had held her cy. He discussed the irony w ith Maria as he poked and they had s a tis fie d each other, f t was good to a t her expectantly through the bubbles, head a t be fla tte re d by a handsome young buck. She had surface le v e l, legs occasionally crossing and learned that the English expression "buck0 was a touching hers Ln as Innocent and controlled a way degrading term fo r e black male, and she had as he could manage. expropriated the word fo r her own use in descri "Take E th io p ia " , he explained, having used bing any macho male. this example a hundred tines during the la s t She waa spending the evening w ith an over- year. "Once they were occupied by the Ita lia n s . achiever, a man who had lo s t touch w ith his soul Now, s ille d w ith the strongest nation on Earth— and who had determined that Lt was to he found In the Americans would never agree that the Russians m aterial accomplishments. A poor substitute for are now tba moat powerful nation In the history George, but someone tra v e le d end experienced of the world, but fuck them— they are starving. enough to entertain het and reinforce her b e lie f What has been a slow, protracted death or many in the poverty o f man*s world. post-colonial countries la now accelerating to an They chatted fo r two hours, watching the f ir e unavoidable catastrophe. But we c a n 't change i t die down to embers, embracing, occasional lig h t by giving up our own standards of liv in g , fo r i f kisses, less passionate than those she would we could I would in a second. Just t e ll me how share with the c a t but enough to keep him on and I would." edge. "We w ill share a warm, non-erotlc evening As be spoke he realized the ultim ate tru th , together," she bad said a t the outset, in order that the lo s t populations o f the underdeveloped to define the playing fie ld . “Of course," he had countries could slave a l l th e ir liv e s , but not a answered in as n e u tra l, enlightened a tone as one o f those peasants would ever be able to possible; you bet, he thought, amidst visions as afford to slide into a hot steamy bubble bath orgasmic as be could possibly muster up. with a b eau tifu l Ita lia n woman w ith incredible Than she said to him, "L et's take a bubble tit s . bath," He managed to grab the pipe w ith bls hand He hoped his w ife Sylvia was a l l rig h t. He was before i t f e l l out of bls mouth. often asked why he had fin a lly married S ylvia Hi a fte r years o f bachelorhood. A ll of his answers were reasonable explanations, although only pe I joined them fo r the evening's fe s tiv itie s . rip h e ra lly true: her beauty, a profeaslonal wo As usual she brought home a guy who didn‘ t appre man, aba respects her own mind, great cook, she c ia te cats, so she bed an excuse to talk especi finds time or bee work and fo r love, etc. The a lly nice to me as he in terjected such remarks as naked truth: for tbe pussy. "How can you le t I t around the ta b le ,'1 and “Dogs fie needed the pussy, and be couldn't go on the are aueb more affectio n ate". re s t of bls L ife pursuing I t one weekend a fte r I wanted to be on hand in case she needed me. another; a t some point a man of bls means and I know she can take care of h erself, having been social expectations has to s e ttle down with one a s o c ia l worker w ith ju v e n ile delinquents in great pussy. I t was a basic necessity of L ife . Ita ly , many o f whom were thugs and drug addicts- Before S ylvia, he would conquer an average of 30 S t i l l , my mother instin cts warned me to watch women a year, now, post-Sylvla, a discreet five this one extra c a re fu lly , given the circumstan or six when she was out of town or he waa tra v e l- ces: her boss, especially charming and good look 26 tng‘ Inveterate hunter, he would never give up the the chatter and smelled the vapors emanating from pursuit of fresh pussy e n tire ly , merely temper i t the bathroom. I shouted a t him not to go in to managesble levels* He had cose to re a lis e , there, but George doesn't know "cat", nor had he a fte r years of philosophical Inquiry, that the ever shown any In te re s t in learning i t . meaning o f l i f e Is in the pussy. In America and Imagine the sunken look on the Ita lia n boss's Europe, thousands and thousands of Lesbians are face whan George strode into the bathroom, Maria, proof In the pudding. As a good friend end con splashing to her fe e t, said lig h tly , "George, noisseur had once put i t sc b r illia n t ly , "once you're an hour e a rly ," knowing f u ll w ell that i f they taste the pussy, they never go back to Che she wasn't a t the a irp o rt to weet him he would d ic k / 1 He waa born to be a professional pussy- dive into a cab to get hows to her. ta s te r, but since society wasn't ready fo r that George, a huge fello w , in his most g o rilla yet, he'd have to earn hla money in soaa more lik e voice, bellowed, "Look's lik e I'm an hour acceptable fashion and pursue pussy as an avoca too la te ," as be grabbed the cringing Ita lia n tio n , a labor of love* boss by the scruff o f bls neck, much lik e 1 would a k itte n , and dragged hia dripping naked through the apartment, pausing only to flin g open ths 1 followed than into the bathroom. This was door and tossing bin out into the sub-sero wea fu rth e r chan Maria had ever gone before on a ther in his birthday s u it (a cute human expres "date*1 a fte r being untried to George, She picked sio n ). The p ile o f clothes followed before the me up and whispered in my ear, "Don't worry, ny door wan slammed abut. love, nothing's going to happen, I'm Jost playing Maria was in splendid form. Her face bore the a l i t t l e , " When she pronounced the “ i" tn expression of a damsel who had been saved froa a " l i t t l e " lik e the long *e’ in "sheet" instead of fire -b re a th in g Ita lia n macho by an American white the short "i" in "s h it" , I was worried. She was knight. Lt appeared to me that she had calculated losing her grasp over the language, and she had the whole thing, though to this day I'm not sura only drunk one glass of wine. I f only I could exactly why. cone Into the bubble hath w ith then, but no She took George s tra ig h t into the bedroom and thanks. spent several hours soothing his and cooing into b is ear befo re he fin a lly decided that maybe there was some tru th in her argument that I t bad a l l been an innocent evening and that in today's She settled into the suda and l i t up a l i t t l e times a l i t t l e bubble bath Is nothing to get cigar. He’s hunting we, she thought. I t ' s fun to upset about. observe how the predator naps out bls strategy, That night George d id n 't even bother to greet sixes up his prey, attempts to form a picture of me, even though he hadn't seen me in almost two what he's dealing w ith based on past experience, months. • a l i f e of hunting* But he's never d e a lt w ith a woman lik e ne before. I ' l l give hla the hunt but not the trophy. He can enjoy hunting, and 1, also experienced carnivore, w ill play the hunted. He w ill f a l l because he sees only we, but I see both o f ua. 1 know what's In his heed, end what's in nine, and be is only privy to hla own thoughts, poor baby. But l i f e wouldn't he rig h t I f the prey didn’ t gat away every now end then. H e 'll appre ciate i t la te r in l i f e . The trophy 1 save for George. In the weantlee we can have good clean fun together.

The had chatted fo r h a lf an hour, bathed in luxury. He waited and waited, thinking that since she had invited bin into the tub, she would also in v ite him into her eras, fin a lly ha was ready to pop an opening lin e , lik e , "Let's fuck," some thing rashly bold as usual. He had been watching her 1useious t it t ie s bobbing between the white suds the whole tim e, and so be was bard. F in a lly , "Squeeze ny dick and see bow much I want you," he challenged, heart singing out w ith desire, eager to bring this whole ta n ta liz in g evening to a climax. As she did so he closed his eyes, but only to hear, "Yea, Sylvie oust be proud," not a h in t of desire or surrender on her p art, ♦##

I beard the front door open as they were ta lk ing and I rushed out of the bathroom, Sure enough, i t was George, looking tire d and pissed o ff that be hadn't been picked up a t the a irp o rt. Surveying the apartment w ith a glance, he heard 27 Role Reversals in 3 New Novels:

IblS by Linda Steele Double Nocturne by Cynthia Felice A Door Into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski

...... reviewed by Janice Bogstad m a le Remember th o s e o ld s t o r i e s a b o u t g ia n t women D ouble N o ctu rn e f o llo w s a b em used p le re s c u e m issio n o r women l i v i n g in h i v e - l i k e s o c i e t i e s u n d er th e p r o ta g o n i s t on a se em in g ly sim o f f e m a l e - r u l e d d o m in a tio n o f a q u ee n -b ee? T h ere w ere alw ays t h r o u g h tw o p e r m u t a t i o n s s e i s p r e s e n te d in w arrio r-w o m en who w ere a t h e r b ec k and c a l l and c u l t u r e s . H ow ever, each o f th e th e h iv e when th e v i r i l e m a les a p p e a re d , m ost o f th e women a somewhat m ore p o s i t i v e l i g h t th a n I s la n d i a w elcom ed them w ith open arm s? W e ll, th e s e books c u l t u r e on I b i s - A ll o f th e c u l t u r e s on They a r e a r e n o t l i k e t h a t , a lth o u g h some o f th e e le m e n ts seem v ia b le and g e n e r a lly c o m fo r ta b le . rem ain i n e a c h . I n th e s e n o v e ls women a r e tr y in g r u le d by queens and th e second i s f a i t h f u l to a to e x p la in to men w hat i t means to be p o w e rle ss m a t r i a r c h a l , p a c i f i s t r e l i g i o n . The s to r y i t s e l f s t e l l a r i n a s o c ie t y w here pow er i s b a se d p a r t i a l l y on i s a r i c h o n e : H ark a b a n d o n s an i n t e r c o v e r h is o n e 's g e n d e r; w here o n e 's o b je c tio n s a r e n o t even c r a f t in a s u r f a c e la n d e r in o r d e r to re a le crewmember who h e a r d , much l e s s ta k e n s e r i o u s l y , b e c a u se o f a fe m a le c a p ta in and a n o th e r fem i a f i r s t and in th e p h y s io lo g ic a l d i f f e r e n c e betw een th o s e in power w ent to th e p la n e t o f I s l a n d i s h im s e lf downed an d t h e p o w e r l e s s . And t h e s e r o l e - r e v e r s a l c o u rs e o f t h i s re s c u e m is s io n u e b y a g r o u p n o v e ls , w ith women i n p o s it io n s o f a u t h o r i t y , do b y b a d w e a t h e r . H is r e s c ent a s th o s e who n o t en d w ith t h e v i r i l e a n d c l e a r l y - s u p e r i o r b e lo n g in g to th e same governm s a f f o r d s him many (b o th p h y s ic a l ly and m o ra lly ) m ales ta k in g o v e r e a r l i e r p ic k e d up h i s c o lle a g u e p o w e rle ss in th e fro m t h e i r a p p r e c i a t i v e f e m a le c o n q u e s t s . exam ples o f th e p o s it io n o f th e d e r /p o w e r R a th e r , th e y u se m ale c h a r a c t e r s in p o s i t i o n s o f s o r t o f s o c i e t y w h ich m akes a g e n ith h is p o w e r l e s s n e s s t o e x p l o r e t h e d e v a s t a t i n g e q u a tio n . He jo u rn e y s to th e c i t y o f Fox w an d O r r i n , o n ly to im p l ic a tio n s o f t h a t p o s i t i o n . tw o m a le r e s c u e r s , Je re m y own Of t h e s e th r e e n o v e ls , th e one w hich comes d is c o v e r th e r e t h a t th e s e men have ea ch h is c l o s e s t to th e o ld hive-w om en c l i c h e i s i b i s re a s o n s f o r b e in g d i s a t i s f i e d w ith a c u l tu r e in (DAW, 1985) by L inda S t e e l e . I t c a r r i e s a f r o n t w hich ev en t h e i r d i e t a r y n ee d s a r e c o n s ta n tly c o v e r s u b t i t l e , "W itch Queen o f the H ive Women", u n d e r th e s u p e r v is io n o f women. He th u s a ls o a d d e d , no d o u b t, to a t t r a c t th e unw ary. I t b e becom es th e nexus around w hich t h e i r r e b e l l i o n i s g i n s , a s does F e l i c e 's H oetum e. (B lu e ja y , a c t e d o u t th r o u g h t h e i r a s s i s t i n g him in h i s 1 9 8 6 ), w ith a c r a s h - l a n d in g , and s h a re s th e p l o t f l i g h t to a n o th e r queendom, New P en an c e. o f a b e w ild e re d m ale p r o ta g o n i s t who m u st n e g o t i A la s , a r e l a t i o n s h i p fo rm e d on th e ro a d a t e th e h o s t i l e c u l t u r e In o r d e r to sav e h is c o l b etw een H ark and S e l l i a , one o f t h a t c o u n tr y 's le a g u e s . In /.' io , P a d re c M o r r is s e y 's r e s p o n s i b i l tw in -q u e e n s , does n o t a f f o r d him any more su c c e ss i t i e s to w ard s a l a r g e group o f humans a l s o h in g e s i n b e in g h e a r d an d b e l i e v e d . I t i s o n ly th e on h is r e l a t i o n s h i p w ith a p o w e r f u l woman, a in te r v e n tio n from a member o f a t h i r d p la n e ta r y queen o f one o f t h a t w o r ld 's many h iv e s , s im ila r c u l t u r e , n o t n e c e s s a r i l y b e t t e r b u t a g a in d i f f e r e n t from th e o th e r tw o, w hich a llo w s him to to ■ c. ib o tu r n s ' s Tom H ark. B ut w here F e lic e ta k e s h e r p r o t a g o n i s t th ro u g h s e v e r a l m a tr ia r c h a l re c o v e r h i s c a p ta in and crew m ate, h i s c r a f t and c u l t u r e s , S te e le fo c u s s e s on o n e. an e s c a p in g c i t i z e n o f F yxen, th e f i r s t c o u n try . From t h e j a c k e t - i n f o r m a t i o n on I b i s , one The a d v e n tu re i s enhanced c o n s ta n tly by th e many g e t s o n ly th e m is c o n c e p tio n t h a t S t e e l e i s m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g s , m i s r e a d i n g s , an d g e n e r a l r e p la y in g th e same o ld m o th e r - f e a r , m a tr ia r c h a l- m iscom m unication w hich in e v ita b ly r e s u l t s when o p p r e s s iv e n e s s t h a t c h a r a c t e r iz e d e a r l i e r r o l e someone r a is e d w ith one. s e t o f c u l t u r a l m ores r e v e r s a l n o v e ls by m ale a u t h o r s . I t i s in th e m eets in d iv i d u a ls who a s c r ib e to a n o th e r s e t . p tio n s o f c h a r a c t e r s tu d y t h a t th e n o v e l r i s e s above t h i s But even more s t r i k i n g a r e th e d e s c r i a r e n o t c l i c h e . P a d rec i s t r u l y a t t r a c t e d to th e queen H a rk 's f r u s t r a t i o n s when h is v e ry w ords who owns him . A lth o u g h he u s e s h is p o s it io n to h e a r d . H is e x p la n a tio n s , t r u t h f u l o r o th e rw is e , f r e e h is c o m ra d e s, th e d e p th s o f h i s p o w e rle ssn e ss make l i t t l e d if f e r e n c e to h i s c a p to r s in e i t h e r and h i s i n a b i l i t y to le a v e Queen A n il, co u p led Fox o r New Penance b ec au se th e y a r e seen th ro u g h w ith h i s m o ral need to d e fy h e r , c a u se s in him a a v e i l o f d i s b e l i e f in m a le i n t e l l i g e n c e and s a c r i f i c e t h a t i s u n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f m ale SF v e r a c i t y w hich i s an e f f e c t i v e d is ta n c in g o f th e p r o ta g o n i s t b u t v e ry c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f r e a l women s i t u a t i o n s women of th e r e a l w orld d e a l w ith on a a s w e ll a s fem a le p r o ta g o n i s ts in SF and non-SF d a i l y b a s i s . I w ill be c u r io u s to se e i f m ale n o v e l s . I a p p l a u d t h e a u t h o r ' s r i s k o f r e a d e r s fin d i t as e f f e c t i v e as I d id . i r i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n in o r d e r to p robe th e n a tu re o f p o w e r le s s n e s s . One c a n n o t p ro p e rly c a l l /i Door I n to Onean through m u ltip le re a d in g s of the n o v e l. (B lu e ja y , 1986) a r o le - r e v e r s a l n o v e l, b e c a u se C u rio u sly , the id e o lo g ic a l c la s h e s b ro u g h t the ra c e of b e in g s who in h a b it liv in g r a f t s on a b o u t by two d i f f e r e n t s e ts of assum ptions ab o u t the ocean w orld o f Shora a re androgynous through the s tr u c tu r e of r e a l i t y a re most c le a r in con o u t th e ir l i v e s . Yet t h e ir c u ltu r e is d e sc rib e d v e rs a tio n s between two p a ir s of lo v e rs , S p in el In term s w hich make n e g o tia tin g w ith i t seem and L y s tra , a young Shoran; and R ealgar and h is e q u a lly f r u s t r a t i n g . The Shorans a re w illin g to fia n c e e , B e rn ic e . B ernice has embraced the Shoran l i s t e n to two human m ales, young S p in e l and the l i f e because i t answ ers h er need to be tre a te d as o ld e r G eneral R ealg ar— t h e ir e r s t- w h lle p ro te c an e q u a l. t o r s —fo r Shora i s i n i t i a l l y p e rc e iv e d as a prim I t has b e e n s a id th a t a love re la tio n s h ip i t i v e , c o lo n ia l- r ip e p la n e t by R e a lg a r's s u p e ri between two in d iv id u a ls i s the tru e t e s t o f a o rs . The Shorans a r e , however, p h ilo s o p h ic a lly u to p ia . I th in k , r a th e r , as in th e se th re e books, p re d isp o se d a g a in s t the t a c t i c s o f f e a r and ag i t i s the b e s t way to re p re s e n t the c lo se con g re s s io n w hich hold the l a t t e r 's i n t e r g a l a c t i c n e c tio n betw een p e rso n a l l i f e and the p u b lic , s o c i e t y t o g e t h e r . The Shorans d em onstrate the p o l i t i c a l s tr u c tu r e s of any s o c ie ty . T his watch s tre n g th of th e ir c o n v ic tio n s in th e f a c e o f word, "The p e rso n a l is the p o l i t i c a l " , is under d e s tr u c tiv e fo ra y s by a te c h n o lo g ic a lly su p e rio r stood im p lic itly by many women whose p e r s o n a l s o c ie ty . Slonczew ski In tro d u c e s th e them es of p o w erlessn ess is c o n tro lle d by governm ental de p a c i f i s t s tr e n g th and an e c o lo g ic a l aw areness, c re e . Each o f th ese a u th o rs has chosen to ex p lo re w hich le a d to s u p e rio r m edical s k i l l through the th a t p o w erlessn ess by the device of p la c in g men e x p lo ra tio n of a p h ilo s o p h ic a l system which would in the w eaker p o sitio n .® take much tim e to d e t a i l , and i s b e s t understood

Barbary Downtime

by Vonda N. McIntyre by Cynthia Felice

reviewed by Janice Bogstad reviewed by Janice Bogstad M c I n ty r e 's n e w e s t n o v e l, Barbary (Houghton C ynthia F e l i c e 's Bownt-ime (B lu e ja y , 1985) went M if f lin , 1986), i s one of th o se stra ig h tfo rw a rd by so f a s t , I had to page back through i t to s c ie n c e - f ic tio n a d v e n tu re s so enjoyed by teenaged d is c o v e r i t s p a r tic u la r enchantm ent. O bsessive o r a d u lt re a d e rs . T h e re 's n e a r - f u tu r e technology, a tte n tio n is re q u ire d to fo llo w th e c a s t and e n c o u n te r s w ith a l i e n s , and c h a n c e s fo r the p lo t, and respond to the n o v e l's ra p id pace. Each y o u th fu l p ro ta g o n is ts to make th e ir mark on the b i t of an in c re a s in g ly complex in te r a c tio n be f u t u r e . tween an i n te r g a la c tlc c i v i l i z a t i o n , an is o la te d T w elv e-y ear-o ld B arbary i s an orphan who has w orld; and the s e n tie n t beings who liv e th ere are moved from one fo ster-h o m e to a n o th e r on E arth , added as a s u r p r is e . We d o n 't m eet the main c h a r u n til an old frie n d of her m o th e r's liv in g w ith a c te r s a t f i r s t , and th e ir s ig n ific a n c e is n o t h is c h ild on a space s ta tio n o f f e r s to a d o p t h er. a p p a r e n t u n t i l halfw ay through the n o v el. The B arbary has a l l the fe a rs one m ight e x p e c t in an r e la tio n s h ip between the plan et-b o u n d Jason and a d o le s c e n t going to liv e in sp a c e . For her i t ' s a h is s u p e rio r, C a lla , is o u tlin e d on the d u st ja c r e le a s e and a new b e g in n in g . On the way s h e 's k e t, b u t m entioned only b r i e f l y in th e f i r s t b e frie n d e d by a b lack a s tr o n a u t, a woman who is th ird of a book in which in te r g a l a c t l c , i n t e r the new space s ta tio n head. p la n e ta ry , i n t e r r a c i a l (human and non-human) and B arbary has two ad v en tu ro u s f r ie n d s , a Manx in te rp e rs o n a l p lo ts a re woven to g e th e r, a thread c a t named M ick, and her new s i s t e r , H eather. a t a tim e. H e a th e r's f a th e r , the c o lo n y 's p o e t, is working The a u th o r has a l o t to accom plish in 250 on a r e la tio n s h ip w ith Thea, a r e b e llio u s te c h n i p ag es, and i f the p o l i t i c a l m o tiv a tio n s a re not c ia n . And the space s ta tio n is a b o u t to make alw ays c le a r , the p e rso n a l ones a r e . W ithin the c o n ta c t w ith the f i r s t a lie n race to e n te r our scope o f a tte m p ts to save an in te r g a la c tlc e a l l i s o la r system . a n ce, a love i s re k in d le d —b u t n o t a t the expense By now, i t m ust be e v id e n t th a t the p lo t has of d u ty . C a lla 's f in a l s a c r i f i c e s , o f which Jason many f e a tu r e s which s e p a ra te i t from many o th e r claim s to be in c a p a b le , a re fo r the good of the YA n o v e ls . An o f f i c i a l p o e t on a space s ta tio n , a llia n c e and a la r g e r group of people under her whose manager i s a b la c k woman; two g i r l s w ith c a re , r a th e r than fo r Jason a lo n e . J a s o n 's d e d i th e i n v e n t i v e n e s s , know ledge, and i n t e r e s t to c a tio n to a lie n s whose s e n tie n c e i s in d o u b t u n d ertak e s e v e ra l k in d s of a d v e n tu re , whose r e m o tiv ates many of h is a c tio n s , d e s p ite h is love sp o n sib le p a re n t is a man; th ese p o s s i b i l i t i e s fo r C a lla . T his work e x e m p lifie s a re la tio n s h ip m ight a r i s e in the kin d of fu tu re I would lik e to between the in te rp e rs o n a l and the p u b l l c / p o l l t l - s e e , b u t seldom have seen in sc ie n c e f ic tio n c a l th a t has in te r e s te d fe m in is ts fo r decades. I t s t o r i e s fo r younger re a d e rs . T hat th e se fe a tu re s does so on a very la rg e s c a le , which a t once a re a l l background makes them a l l the more e f f e c d ilu te s and fo cu sses on the many p o in ts a t which tiv e . The im p lic a tio n is th a t they a re norm al, o n e 's p e rso n a l l i f e has p o l i t i c a l im p lic a tio n s. I r a th e r than rem ark ab le, p ro v id in g s u b t l e con p r e d ic t you w ill be fa s c in a te d by the macro- and t r a s t s to the r e s t r i c t i v e s te re o ty p e s young peo m ic ro -sc a le s of p le a re o ffe re d d a ily . The s tre n g th o f M c In ty re 's n o v e l, as w ith h e r o th e rs , l i e s in th is su b tle ty .® 29 The Coming of the , , Quantum Cats 4 Reviews by Philip Kaveny by Frederick Pohl The Coming o f th e Quantum Cats (Bantam, 1986) Age of Wonders is a d e l i g h t f u l l y w e l l - c r a f t e d b o o k . We a r e g ra d u a lly drawn in to p re se n t-d a y Chicago through by David Hartwell a c h a ra c te r w ith a r a th e r lo w -re n t v ie w p o in t, who a t one p o in t says th a t he "could do more i f he David H artw ell g iv e s an I n s i d e r 's view of a were a l i t t l e b e tte r connected w ith Arab money". body o f l i t e r a t u r e as hard to n a i l down as a blob W ell, we a re s t i l l in Chicago u n t i l the guy de o f q u ic k s ilv e r : sc ie n c e f i c t i o n . H a rtw e ll's back c id e s to go swimming to p le s s and g e ts a tic k e t. I ground in c lu d e s a lif e lo n g I n t e r e s t in SF and a read I t a g a in and, r i g h t , he g e ts a tic k e t. And PhD from Columbia U n iv e rsity in m edieval compara g e ts hauled o f f to be In te rro g a te d by a woman who tiv e l i t e r a t u r e . He has worked as an SF e d ito r has o n ly a few f i n g e r s l e f t because she g o t fo r D e ll, B erkeley Books, and the much acclaim ed b u ste d fo r d ru g s. Now we a re n o t su re th a t we a re Timescape s e r ie s . in Chicago any more. I t seems th a t a d eal has In Age Wonders (McGraw H i l l , 1985) he com been made In th is r e a l i t y betw een r ig h t- w in g p a re s SF to Los A ngeles: everyone knows where i t C h ris tia n s and Moslem fu n d a m e n ta lists to run a i s , b u t no one is sure how to d e sc rib e i t . This k ind of A rt Deco USA. There a re cra c k s in th is is an e x c e lle n t book fo r those who a re fa s c in a te d r e a l i t y t h a t a llo w i t to in t e r a c t w ith o th e r by SF b u t cannot read i t . p a r a l l e l u n iv e rs e s . I t is P o h l's c r a f t th a t takes H artw ell ta lk s a b o u t the Im portance of th e b ig th is ra th e r d r o ll concept and b re a th e s l i f e in to id ea in sc ie n c e f i c t i o n . He says th a t i t s e sse n i t so we, as re a d e rs , a re d e lig h te d w ith I t s pos t i a l th a t the w r ite r work w ith a co n cep t th a t s i b i l i t i e s and s t a r t to f i l l in the gaps o u r a p p e a ls to the r e a d e r 's sense o f wonder. An in s e lv e s . I w o n 't s p o il the s to ry , b u t i t liv e s up te r e s tin g id ea w ith in th is a re a is the S chroe- to i t s p o te n tia l.® d ln g e r 's C at paradigm : You know th e re i s a c a t in a box w ith a l e t h a l p o iso n , b u t you cannot see The Scientific Romance in to the box to know i f th a t c a t has e a te n i t and d ie d . As a r e s u l t you have one u n iv e rse in which in Britain, 1890-1950 the c a t i s dead, and a n o th e r in which i t i s n o t. M u ltip ly th is co n cep t by the number of atoms in by Brian Stableford the u n iv e rse and you see a b e a u tif u l a l te r n a tiv e S ta b le f o r d 's work (S t. M a rtin s, 1985) comple r e a l i t y which may through some p e rm e a b ility in ments Age o f Wonders, f i l l i n g an im p o rta n t gap in t e r a c t w ith w hat we a g re e to be our own. Two the developm ent of sc ie n c e f i c t i o n . c u r r e n t exam ples of th is type of book a re the S ta b le fo rd d e fin e s the s c i e n t i f i c romance in ones review ed n ex t.® B r ita in acco rd in g to the c h a r a c te r is tic s of i t s m arket. I t s e x is te n c e was made p o s s ib le by the The Proteus Operation dem ise o f the V ic to ria n t r i p l e d e c k e r of the by James P. Hogan 1880s and th e emergence of m iddle-brow m arket m agazines such as Pho tP r m d and 3 'le: F ie ld - T h eir The P roteus O peration (Bantam, 1985) works re a d e rs were hungry fo r and w illin g to pay fo r w ith the same b ig idea o f m u ltip le u n iv e rse s in the lik e s of H. G. W ells and S ir A. Conan Doyle. which d i f f e r e n t c o n tin g e n c ie s take p la c e . Hogan (These same w r i t e r s s t a r t to a p p e a r s h o r t l y has a r e p u ta tio n as a hard sc ie n c e w r ite r w ith a th e r e a f te r as hard cover n o v e lis ts , much lik e the very wide fo llo w in g . To be f a i r , the book was American pulp m arket 60 y e a rs l a t e r . ) good enough to be d is a p p o in tin g . I t is very f r u s H is book i s a gateway to a fo rg o tte n and beau t r a t i n g b e c a u s e i t s u f f e r s in the sense th a t t i f u l g arden. One becomes f a m ilia r w ith names Hogan has the chance to say a l o t , b u t he says lik e W illiam Hope Hodgson, A rthur Machen, O laf n o th in g a b o u t e v e ry th in g . Perhaps the w o rst p a r t S ta p le to n . T h e re 's a b e a u tif u l s e c tio n on W ells. ab o u t Hogan is th a t he uses the same p lo t device He t r e a t s around 40 w rite rs from th is 60-year as Pohl as a kind of cookie c u t t e r . So we have a p e rio d , quoting ta n ta liz in g s e c tio n s from th e ir w r ite r who has a c c e ss to a l l the m ajor h i s t o r i c a l w o rk s. H is e x c e l l e n t b io g ra p h ic a l and b ib lio c h a ra c te rs o f th e World War 2 and does n o th in g g ra p h ic a l work w ill allow me to read a t le a s t w ith them.® some of th e se works in the o rig In a l.® ’ FREDERIK POHL

Exploring th e w o rld o f science Fiction Age of* (n P F F ilT lilri j l | Wonders David Hartwell-* Aliens: Perversion of Motherhood, Parody of Birth

reviewed by Janice Bogstad The appearance of the aliens you see in These same aliens transform the sharp corners and Aliens the sequel to the 1979 horror-science mechanical devices of a human colony in Aliens fiction movie, Alien will not surprise you, nor into similar steamy and dripping reminders of our will their tenacity. The film is a tense block inner workings, but this time with human beings buster, one harrowing battle after another, imbedded in them as hosts for future aliens. On beginning with the psychological and bureaucratic several registers, the human use of mechanical ones which face Ripley on her return to human devices is opposed to the alien's perfected civilization and ending with those she survives organisms. Human guns, space ships, colonies, and at the mercy of the aliens. Of course, these even a mechanical device which surrounds the battles place her in the position to further human body, must be used against their threat. develop her heroic stature, because of her The one being who is able to effectively help single-handed success against vast numbers of Ripley is in fact another mechanical device, an aliens is opposed to the failures of male and artificial person. female counterparts, including a squad of Yet the vague sense of dissatisfaction with marines. Her seeming equal in survival ability R i p l e y as a her o is f o r e g r o u n d e d by this is a nine-year-old-girl named Newt. opposition. At decisive points in the film, when she must decide to endanger herself further than There are improvements over the original in is demanded of her, it is made clear that this this sequel. The voyueristic scenes from the 1979 s a c r i f i c e is p r o m p t e d by her conc e r n for Alien that presented Ripley as an almost totally children. Her accompaniment on the mission to the nude female are replaced by scenes in which, she human colony is assured when the fact emerges still appears in underwear, but it is less that colonists include families. And her direct revealing and more servicable. While Ripley is confrontations with the aliens are prompted by not initially in charge of the rescue expedition the need to protect and rescue the young Newt. this time, acting rather as an observer and In the final confrontation with the alien, the advisor, her competence against the aliens who female who is responsible for laying eggs which are a known quantity to her slowly forces her impregnate human beings prepared for that into the foreground until she alone is able to purpose, her remark "Leave her alone, you bitch", counter their attempted destruction of all human clarifies the position of each— they are mothers life. fighting for their young, just as all mothers do, It seems that Hollywood has finally given us right? While the alien form of reproduction has a female hero of considerable stature. The been noted for its parody of the birth process— subtext of the film is equally interesting in its and in Aliens, a human female becomes the example opposition of the organic to the mechanical. We of this gruesome performance— the second film are used to thinking of human beings as primarily focuses on motherhood as a subtext. Any heroic organic, but it was clear from the original Alien proportions that Ripley attains are mitigated by that the creatures are the ultimate adaptive this portrait of her as a mother, while at the organic lifeform. They perhaps have a spaceship, same time the a lien is rendered less as seen in that first film, but it is filled with incomprehensible— she is also fighting for the forms which imitate intestines and orifaces. survival of her young. I a d m ire d R ip le y a s a c h a r a c t e r i n t h i s f i l m , b u t I c o n t i n u a l l y a s k e d m y s e l f t h e q u e s tio n , Why c o u ld she n o t be p o r tra y e d as a The Handmaids Tale h e r o who s a v e s t h e hum an r a c e r a t h e r th a n a h e r o i n e who f i g h t s to s a v e h e r y o u n g ? W e ll, by Margaret Atwood b e c a u se women a r e n o t c a p a b le o f such a b s t r a c t h e ro ism , r ig h t?

We a r e by now u s e d t o l a r g e r - t h a n - l i f e , reviewed by Janice Bogstad f i e r c e m ale h e ro s whose p e r s o n a l q u e s ts r e s u l t in The H andm aid's T a le (Houghton M if f lin , 1986) t h e s a l v a t i o n o f t h e m y r ia d l i t t l e p e o p l e . has con tin u ed to provoke comment s in c e I t s I n i R i p le y 's o b v io u s human c o n c e rn f o r th o s e w eaker t i a l appearance In the e a r ly p a rt o f 1986. I t was th a n h e r i s n o t up to t h e i r s t a t u r e . What do I review ed by Mary McCarthy, w ell-know n w r it e r , in as a v ie w e r e x p e c t o f a h e r o , and who h as c r e a te d the February 9 , 1986 Y o rk I tm e s Book Review^ th e s e e x p e c ta tio n s o n ly to f r u s t r a t e them in th e and a r e p ly to the review was p rin te d in the p e rso n o f R ip le y ? L e tte r s s e c t io n o f the March 9 I s s u e . R eview ers p r a ise d I t a s e x c e l le n t s c ie n c e f i c t i o n —and as R ip le y i s n o t , th a n k th e g o d d e s s, a Rambo, b e t te r than s c ie n c e f i c t i o n — b ecau se I t t r e a ts a b u t can h e r a u d ie n c e a p p r e c ia te h e r f o r w hat she fu tu r e th a t m ight come a b ou t, and a ls o shows us r e a l l y i s , a t r u l y u n s e l f i s h h e ro who r i s k s h e r how we m ig h t a r r iv e a t t h a t f u t u r e . I t was own body and p ea ce o f m ind to sa v e o th e r s from p r a ise d fo r I t s In n o v a tiv e n e ss, I t s b e lie v a b i l t h e i r own f o l l y ? I f I found m y se lf d i s a t i s f i e d i t y , I t s c r a f t , and Im agin ation . i n t a k i n g h e r m e a s u re a g a i n s t t h a t o f th e The s to r y d e t a i l s a r e a c tio n a r y s o c ie ty o f co n tem p o rary H ollyw ood h e r o , how does sh e a p p e a r t h e n e a r f u t u r e w h e re women an d t h e s e x u a l to th o s e w ish in g u n w illin g i n th e f i r s t p la c e to p r o m is c u ity th e y a s a m a tte r o f c o u rs e en g ean d er co u n te n a n c e a fem a le h ero ? Can t h e r e be a fem a le a r e i d e n t i f i e d a s th e so u rc e o f s o c i a l u n r e s t by h e ro in co n tem p o rary film ? In th in k in g a b o u t th e f u n d a m e n ta lis t C h r is tia n com m unities o f th e t h i s f i l m , i t h a s becom e a p p a r e n t t o me w h at U n ite d S t a t e s . A v i o l e n t u p h e a v a l ta k e s p la c e in d ile m m a s f a c e t h e f i l m m a k e r who t r i e s t o w h ic h women a r e d e p r iv e d o f t h e i r r i g h t s and c o n s tr u c t one.® d i v i d e d i n t o c a s t e s o f W iv e s , H a n d m a id s ( r e p r o d u c e r s ) and M arth as ( d o m e s tic s ). Each i s a s s ig n e d a s t r i c t l y d e s ig n a te d p la c e in s o c ie ty w ith o u t power o v e r t h e i r own l i v e s , much l e s s Dorothea Dreams o v e r th e w o rk in g s o f th e s o c ie ty o f w hich th e y a r e a p a r t . T h e s t o r y i s t o l d f ro m t h e p e r s p e c tiv e o f one woman who h as been s e p a ra te d by Suzy McKee Charnas from h e r husband and d a u g h te r and tra n sfo rm e d in to a Handmaid a t th e m ercy o f m a rrie d c o u p le s who a r e u n a b le to p ro d u ce c h ild r e n o f t h e i r own b ec a u se o f g e n e tic damage ca u se d by r a d i a t i o n . reviewed by Janice Bogstad T h i s b o o k i s s c i e n c e f i c t i o n b y a l l d e f i n i t i o n s I have c o n te m p la te d o f th e g e n re . I t One never knows what to e x p e c t n e x t from Suzy i s a n i n t e r e s t i n g e x t r a p o l a t i o n , t a k i n g McKee C harnas. Her new books n ever f i t com for r e a c tio n a r y tr e n d s from co n tem p o rary c u l tu r e and t a b le in to a sequence w ith the p rev io u s o n e s, fo llo w in g t h e i r t r a j e c t o r y in to a f r ig h te n in g even though ones o f them (M o th e rlin e s) w as, prop f u tu r e w hich i s p a t te r n e d , a s in much s c ie n c e e r ly sp ea k in g , a se q u e l. A fter to th e End o f f i c t i o n , a f t e r p a s t o r f o r e ig n s o c i e t i e s . H ere th e W orld and M o th e r lin e s , Vam pire T a p e s tr y was a we se e e le m e n ts o f M id d le -E a s te rn p u rd ah and o f com plete s u r p r is e . Then th ere was the n o v e lla (or women in th e m e d iev a l economy. A tw ood's w r itin g n o v e le t) "Burnt Dinner in New N iger". And now i s , a s a lw a y s, s o l i d and e n t e r t a i n i n g . However, there i s D orotnca Tvotm e (B lu e ja y , 1985). i t i s n o t i n n o v a t i v e when v ie w e d w i t h i n th e c o n te x t o f s c ie n c e f i c t i o n l i t e r a t u r e . I t i s n o t T h is l a t e s t n o v e l i s n o t s c ie n c e f i c t i o n . I t even u n u s u a l f o r t h i s p e r io d o f SF w r itin g by c o u l d b e c a l l e d f a n t a s y i f t h e th e m e s o f women. A few exam ples sh o u ld s u f f i c e to prove my r e in c a r n a t io n and m o r a l i s t i c g h o s ts and a r t i s t s ' p o i n t , w hich , I th in k , need s to be made in o rd e r i n s p i r a t i o n s c o u ld be s a id to make i t su c h . More f o r th e r e a l s ig n i f ic a n c e o f t h i s t i t l e to be th a n a n y t h i n g , i t i s th e e x p l o r a t i o n o f an a p p r e c ia te d . The H andm aid’s T a le i s s i g n i f i c a n t a r t i s t ' s v i s i o n and i t s in te r c o n n e c te d n e s s to th e b e c a u se i t c a l l s th e a t t e n t i o n o f th e n o n -s c ie n c e w orld aro u n d h e r , d e s p ite h e r b e s t e f f o r t s to f i c t i o n re a d in g p u b lic to some s e r io u s problem s i g n o r e t h a t c o n n e c t i o n . D o r o t h e a 's a r t i s t i c in o u r c u l t u r e t h a t h a v e b e e n ta k e n up i n v i s i o n , c r e a te d in y e a rs o f seem ing i s o l a t i o n , c o n te m p o r a r y s c i e n c e f i c t i o n o f th e l a s t 10 c o m p le te s i t s e l f in th e c o u rs e o f c o n ta c t w ith y e a r s . I t i s j u s t to o bad t h a t Atwood, and a h e r s e v e r a l c o r p o r e a l and d is c o r p o r a te v i s i t o r s . la r g e number o f h e r r e a d e r s , have chosen to be The id e a t h a t h e r work h as a l i f e of i t s own, and ig n o r a n t o f th e s e o th e r s i g n i f i c a n t w orks. h e r s go es on from th e p o in t a t w hich th e y p a r t T ak e, f o r exam ple, th e p o s tu l a ti o n th a t a co m p an y , i s n o t new in t h e o n g o in g d i a l o g o f r e a c t i o n a r y g ro u p w i l l s e i z e c o n t r o l o f th e a r t i s t and w o rld in w hich we a l l p a r t i c i p a t e . I t governm ent and p u t women back in t h e i r p la c e . In i s th e fram e t h a t C harnas u s e s to c r e a t e t h i s r e c e n t y e a r s a l o n e we h a v e h a d v a r i o u s p a r t i c u l a r r e n d e r i n g o f t h a t i d e a t h a t s p e c u l a t i o n s on t h i s p o s s i b i l i t y , some w ith c o n t r i b u te s a new p ie c e to t h a t n o t- y e t-c o m p le te d f r ig h t e n in g and o th e r s w ith h o p e fu l outcom es. m o sa ic . Y our own v ie w in g i s su g g e ste d .® T hese in c lu d e Suzy McKee C h a rn a s' W alk to th e End o n o f th e W orld (1 9 7 4 ) an d M other l i n e s ( 1 9 7 8 ) , S u z e tte Haden E lg in 's N a tiv e Tongue (1985), (New York, DAW, 1984) Zoe F a ir b a ir n s ' B e n e fits (19 7 9 ), J . N e il Schulm an's Rainbow Cadenza (1983) a l l im m ediately come to mind. In each of th e se sober p r o je c tio n s , women become th e scap eg o ats fo r a l l th a t i s wrong w ith contem porary W estern c u ltu re and th e b e a re rs of i t s w o rs t b u r d e n s , j u s t a s th e y do in The Handmaid’s T a le- Most o f th e se works a ls o d e t a i l th e p ro c e s s by w hich women w ere p u t i n th e p o s itio n of su b se rv ie n c e , i f n o t s la v e ry . The tr a n s i t i o n i s w e ll e s ta b lis h e d in i t s frig h te n in g b e l ie v a b ility as each i s a k ind of c a u tio n a ry t a l e . B e n e fits i s a good example of t h i s because a g o v e rn m e n t p o ro g ra m to c r e a t e g e n e t i c p e rfe c tio n through c o n tro lle d b reed in g program s. N o n - p a r t i c i p a t i n g women a r e th e n p la c e d in a pow erful p o s itio n , because they a re th e only ones l e f t w ith a h e a lth y g e n e tic makeup, and tak e over when th e b re e d in g program produces o nly m o n sters. T h is i s a p o s tiv e view o f th e p o s s i b i l i t i e s c re a te d by a tte m p ts a t a m o n lo lith ic s o lu tio n to complex problem . O th e r v ie w s o f th e r e s u l t s o f th e re a c tio n a ry sc a p e g o a tin g of women a re n o t n e a rly so p o s i t i v e . T hey s h a r e t h e to n e o f The Handmaid’s Tale., which ends am biguously, w ith th e p ro ta g a n is t e ith e r escap in g o r being c a rrie d o ff to to r tu r e and d eath by government a g e n ts (th e l a t t e r being th e f a te of most of th o se r e b e llio u s women a ro u n d h e r ) . Rainbow Cadenza, N a tiv e Tongue, M o th e rlin e s show th e b e g in n in g s o f freedom-movements amongst opp ressed women, but h ie r a r c h ic a l form s, th e g r e a te r lik lih o o d l i e s they o f f e r l i t t l e hope fo r th e im m ediate r e l i e f w ith fu th e r p o la r iz a tio n which may make women as of t h e i r s u f f e r in g . an in d e n tif ia b le group, w ith a fa b ric a te d h is to r y A lthough The Handmaid's T ale i s te c h n ic a lly o f e v i l , u n c l e a n i l i n e s s , i n f e r i o r i t y , and s o lid and i n t e r e s t i n g , i t i s n o t in n o v a tiv e . In w e a k n e ss; th e s o f t u n d e r b e lly o f a even more f a c t , i t i s v ery much in th e t r a d i t i o n of sc ie n c e m o n o lith ic s t a t e m a c h in e ry th a n we a lr e a d y f i c t i o n and w ith in th e m ainstream o f c a u tio n a ry e x p e r i e n c e . I a p p la u d A tw o o d 's book f o r t a l e s a b o u t w om en's v u l n e r a b i l i t y w ith in a s k i l l f u l l y b rin g in g th e se c a u tio n s to a la rg e r s o c ie ty which needs scap eg o ats i f i t i s to avoid a u d i e n c e . B ut I d e s p a i r o f th e l i t e r a r y fundam ental changes in th e way th a t in d iv id u a ls community, in c lu d in g Atwood h e r s e lf , fo r ig n o rin g a r e v a lu e d . Along w ith many o th e r w r i t e r s , th e v o ic e s of SF w r ite r s who have been t e l l i n g Atwood has n o tic e d th a t th e contem porary world i s t h i s same t a l e f o r o v e r a d e c a d e . One would u n s ta b le . The power s tr u c tu r e must change in th in k th a t rev iew ers who a p p re c ia te Atwood would some d ir e c tio n and, w hile we a l l hope th a t i t want to c a l l a tte n tio n to th e se o th e rs , as I , do w ill be away from s im p lis tic , u n i l a t e r a l , and in o rd e r to give a l l involved a f a i r hearing.®

s t r e e t s of S e a ttle . The c a su a l p a sse rsb y see him Wizard of Pigeons as a younger v a r ia tio n on a bag la d y , b u t n o t a wino. His d i f f i c u l t y in m e ltin g in to the mass of by Megan Lindholm h is contem poraries is one o f d e lu s io n s , o r of p a r tic u la r v is io n . The s to ry is to ld from the u n re lia b le n a rra tiv e p e rs p e c tiv e of the W izard. He sees h is l i f e reviewed by Janice Bogstad______in term s of two w o rld s: th a t of the d e r e l i c t / - I thought th a t a f t e r I had read Megan Lind crazy man and th a t of the pow erful w izard who holm 's s tr ik in g tr ilo g y , H arpy's Rl-ight (1983), must look lik e a d e r e l i c t in o rd e r to r e ta in h is The W indsingers (1984), and The L im breth Gate pow ers. Wizard is n o t alo n e in h is e f f o r t s ; h is (1984), I had a good idea of th is new a u th o r 's pow erful m entor, C a ssie , and se v e ra l o th e r "mar ta l e n t s . The p r o ta g o n is t of the tr ilo g y , Kiand g in a l" people re in fo rc e h is d e lu s lo n /v ls io n . I t V andien, is a fem ale shapechanger who, in h e r is the p e c u lia r charm of th is s to r y t h a t the w orld, has paranorm al powers over h er body and read er very lik e ly p u ts down W izard w ith o u t being environm ent. Yet Kiand and her s i s t e r s s u f f e r the a b le to d ecid e i f he is a d e r e l i c t or a w izard — same p sy c h o lo g ic a l o p p ressio n common to women in and w ith a d i f f e r e n t p e rsp e c tiv e on the m arginal our w o rld . in d iv id u a ls encountered in d a ily l i f e th e r e a f te r . I’iz a r d .- f lijo o n o (Ace, 1986) is a very d i f Lindholm has a q u a lity in her w ritin g th a t fe r e n t book. I t m ight be c a lle d a m ature work, reminds me of John C row ley's e a r l i e r w orks, such ex cep t th a t i t ' s only her fo u rth n o v e l. C le a rly , as Nng;nt’ Runmup— an a b i l i t y to draw re a d e rs on we can e x p e c t much more from h er in the fu tu r e . w hile engaging th e ir minds in c o n sta n t sp e c u la The p ro ta g o n is t of ::ar.I,. . i s human, a V ie t tio n on th e p o s i t i o n o f the n a r r a to r . I can nam war v e te ra n liv in g as a d e r e l i c t in the in n e r s a fe ly recommend a l l of Lindholm 's work.® Laadan is a real language created by Elgin as back ground for her science-fiction novel, Native Tongue (DAW Books, 1984). In Elgin’s words, "Laadan is a language invented by a woman, for women, to express Suzette Haden Elgin the perceptions of women". Currently director of the Ozark Center for Language |r A First Studies in Huntsville, Arkansas, Elgin is widely oth linguistics and science fiction. P ^ || Dictionary and published in b Her books include The Gentle Art of Verbal Self- |F &U1 Grammar Tfefense (and two sequels) , a number of linguistics texts, and several science-fiction novels. Native r ® of Laadan Tongue 2: The Judas Rose will be published by DAW E Si Books in early 1987.

A First Dictionary and Grammar of Laadan by Suzette Haden Elgin $7.00 saddle-stapled $8.00 spiral-bound Please add $1.50 per order for shipping. ($2,50 outside the USA) SF 3 , Box 1624, Madison, WI 53701-1624

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GUESTS OF HONOR Join SF3 SF 3 (or, more formally, the Society for the CONNIE M EDON Furtherance and Study of Fantasy and Science Fiction) is a not-for-profit Wisconsin corpo WILLIS CAROL ration with IRS tax-exempt status. SF3 is the umbrella corporation that sponsors activities Nebula & Hugo winning SF Fan writer and critic, 1984 TAFF like WisCon, Aurora, Naw Moon, and other SF writer, author of Fire Watch and winner, editor of The Invisible and fantasy related events that are guaranteed "Blued Moon" Fan, and co-editor of Chuch to lose money. Your dues go toward providing a post office box, bulk mailing permit, posters, scholarships, and other financial support for ATTENDING MEMBERSHIP PRICE these activities. Please consider joining SF 3 . It’s a Good * Before 1987 January 15 - $14.00 Cause. It’s Tax Deductible. And it includes a * 1987 January 15 • February 19 - NOT AVAILABLE free subscription to Cube, our bi-monthly news * At the door, 1987 February 20 - 22 - $20.00 letter (edited by Spike). * Children under 12, if accompanied by a responsible adult member of WisCon 11 - FREE Annual Dues SUPPORTING MEMBERSHIP PRICE (anytime) - $7.00 $3 Associate (non-voting) $6 S..t.u.d.e.nt/Economy $9 Basic $15 Contributing Questions? Call 608/251-6226 {days) or 608/233-0326 (eves). $24 Supporting

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| Society for the Furtherance and Study of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Inc Box 1624 Madison, Wl 53701-1624 Contributors’ Gallery

Susan Balliette (4302 Major A ve., Robert Kellough (1108 E. Gorham S t . , M adison, WI 53716) i s an a s p irin g Brad Foster #4, M adison, WI 53703) is an a r t m u sic ia n , o c c a s io n a lly p la y in g drums i s t , and has i l l u s t r a t e d a number of w ith lo c a l ja z z bands. sm all p re s s p u b lic a tio n s .

Janice Bogstad (Box 2056, M adison, Hank Luttrell (108 King S t ., Madi WI 53701-2056). A funny th in g hap so n , WI 53703) i s a lo n g -tim e SF pened on h er way tow ard h er d o c to fa n and w r ite r , and owns 20th Cen r a te in com parative l i t e r a t u r e : Jan Sievert Fox tu ry Books, w hich s p e c ia liz e s in SF, stopped to g e t a m a ste rs in lib r a r y m y s te rie s , and com ics. s c ie n c e .

Diane Martin ( 2621 K en d all A ve., Brad V. Foster (4109 P le a s a n t Run, M adison, WI 53705) h a s been i n Irv in g , TX 75062) is a fre e la n c e volved in am ateur p u b lish in g sin c e i l l u s t r a t o r and c a r to o n is t, w ith h is 1962. She a ls o works as o f f ic e mana own s tu d io , Jabberwocky G raphix. g er to a b u sin e ss machine company.

Steven Fox (5646 P em b erto n S t . , Stella Mockingbird (Box 1624, Madi P h ila d e lp h ia , PA 19143-2420) is a son, WI 53701-1624) i s a re c lu s iv e s tu d e n t and fre e la n c e a r t i s t . a r t i s t .

DiarteM artin

Judy Goldsnitb (9 4 5 S p a ig h t S t . , Allan Morris (201 E. 2 1 st S t ., #4N, M adison, WI 53703) i s a fre q u e n t New York, NY 10010) is a w r ite r , r e v i e w e r f o r th e M id w e st Book p u b lish e d in many and v a rio u s p la Review. c e s , from Women's World to Washing ton Review.

Jeanne Goaoll (Box 1443, M adison, WI 53701-1443) i s a g ra p h ic s a r t i s t fo r Joe Pearson (5410 Red Oak D r., Hol the W is. D ept, of N a tu ra l R esources. lywood, CA 90068-2548) is a f r e e la n c e a r t i s t .

Paul Grussendorf (3100 C o n n e c tic u t A ve., #228, W ashington, DC 20008) Carol Poster (1906 S ir James Ave. is an a tto rn e y w orking w ith re fu g e e s S a lt Lake C i t y , UT 84116) i s a to help them a c q u ire p o l i t i c a l a sy Joe Pearson p o e t. lum in the US.

Greg Rihn (2423A S. 63rd s t . , Milwa David Johnson (442 M ichael Manor, ukee, WI 53219) is an a s s i s t a n t G lenview , IL 60025) i s an a r t i s t . c i t y a t t o r n e y , dungeonm aster, and h u m o rist.

Philip Kaveny (815 E. Johnson S t. #4, M adison, WI 53703) is a p o e t, Pat Stewart (3827 W. Auer S t ., M il w r ite r , book s e l l e r , and group dy waukee, WI 53216) is a p o e t. nam ics e x p e rt.

Joan Hanke Woods 36