James Tiptree Jr. became a successful science fiction writer in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The author was famously reclusive, which led to various speculations as to the reason. Robert Silverberg dismissed theories that Tipree was a woman, claiming to find “something ineluctably masculine about Tiptree's writing.” In 1977, Tiptree was revealed to be the pen name of Alice Sheldon. (Silverberg managed to eat crow with good grace.)
Clues are always easier to find in retrospect: some of Tiptree’s most intriguing stories dealt with issues of gender. “The Screwfly Solution” portrayed the world in the grip of a mysterious illness or madness that caused men to murder any woman within reach — and the reason turns out to be even more chilling. “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” has male astronauts propelled to a future earth populated only by female clones. “The Starry Rift” includes a species with a unique method of 3-way reproduction. And “The Women Men Don’t See” is about women who are perfectly visible — the male narrator’s failure to truly see them is his own limitation.
The Tiptree Award was started in 1991 by Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler, to honor science fiction and fantasy stories, both novels and short stories, that do unexpected things with sex and gender.
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As the field of SF/F has expanded, so have the expectations for the award. There was a time when a story could be subversive just by making a woman the spaceship captain. Now authors offer us worlds with no gender, with many genders, or with changeable genders (like Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, which was given the award retroactively). And with those possibilities come ever-expanding possibilities of sexual and romantic orientations as well.
”The Lovers” (Eleanor Arnason) and “The Matter of Seggri” (Ursula K. LeGuin) both imagine cultures that are extremely sex-segregated. Same-sex love is normalized, with heterosexual liaisons reserved for breeding. Both stories include someone falling in love with an opposite-sex partner, with very different results.
Retroactive winners include Marge Piercy’s utopian Woman on the Edge of Time, where babies are born artificially, then given three parents, all of whom are referred to as “mothers” regardless of gender. At the dystopian end, there are The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood) and Swastika Night (Katharine Burdakin), both of which imagine a future where women have been reduced to chattel used for breeding.
My favorite is Ann Leckie’s Ancillary series. It’s narrated by a woman who used to be a spaceship (no, really). The narrator’s people have biological sex differences, but regard that fact as unimportant, and they use the same pronoun for everyone. Occasionally, when a foreigner is speaking, a character is referred to as male or female, but for the most part the reader has no idea. It’s a refreshingly different perspective — especially since their default pronoun is “she.”
There’s no way I’ll get to all the reading for the 2017 award, but one notable entry is Dreadnought by April Daniels, in which a teen receives superhero powers that include getting their ideal body. Which, in this case, means changing from a male body to the female one she’d always yearned for. But being a superhero doesn’t shield her from prejudice, even from her own family.
Any science fiction and/or fantasy fans here? Seen any stories that upend convention about sex, gender or sexuality? Expand my must-read list!
On to Top Comments!
From Wee Mama:
Here is a heart-warming comment from someone who just discovered Daily Kos. [Note from Tara: comment is from DiamondDancerSD.]
From MomentaryGrace:
Multiple point of win. Last two paragraphs especially. [Note from Tara: comment is from Captain Frogbert.]
From ursulafaw:
This comment from Buffalo2 is in my diary "Trump Actually Needed A Cheat Sheet..."
It's totally hilarious and as screwed up as this administration is, it's a logical extension that they'll be saying this next.
Thanks for all you do people!
From benny05:
In a diary about Bernie Sanders' Interview on Vermont Public Radio, which sparked more than just a lively discussion, soulflower wrote this salient point to try to bring some understanding and unity:
"The endless finger pointing and blame games are counterproductive
Both Hillary and Bernie have inspired a younger generation of Progressive activists and that’s what we need to be focused on..."
Highlighted by Mr MadAsHell:
In Joan McCater’s diary Florida Republicans really don’t want to face students fighting for their lives, State Sen. Dennis Baxley offers this gem: "Well, spoons are used to eat stuff and kill yourself with obesity but we're not picking on spoons to get rid of obesity."
This was Gertie Green’s reply.
Highlighted by Amaze:
This comment by mindful play appears in Laura Clawson’s diary Texas school district threatens suspension if students protest to prevent the next mass shooting.
Highlighted by The Katwoman:
p a roberson’s comment appears in durrati’s diary Lawrence O’Donnell talked about teachers and guns last night.
Top mojo, courtesy of mik:
Picture quilt, courtesy of jotter: