6 Responses to Post Removed by Author

1. Gabriele March 20th, 2010 at 1:54 am «

   Women in positions of power do not believe they are willingly throwing themselves under the bus, in fact, they believe they have to do whatever is necessary in order to retain the positions of power they have labored mightily to obtain. I do not think their thought processes include any risks to themselves, other than losing their power or money, rather they think these kinds of inconveniences will befall only women who are poor and powerless, in other words relatively unimportant anyway. Recently I have started to think of the entire United States as some kind of science fiction story anyway, as things are happening continuously that I would have considered totally impossible even a few short years ago.
2. Rayne March 20th, 2010 at 6:40 am «

   Yeah, I used to think that the predictions made by a couple of futurists back in 1999 — that the U.S. would increasingly become a rogue nation — were completely out of line.

   Boy, was I wrong.

   I think your prof was trying to make a point about politics, not fantasy, in women’s sci-fi. Maybe if you look back on your studies from a political lens and not that of sci-fi, you’ll see the experience differently.

   IMO, The Handmaid’s Tale is one of the most terrifying stories I ever read.

   You might also consider that at least two major countries are increasingly at risk. They have far too many males, and a massive, restless country with too many unattached males is not good over the long run.
• hctomorrow March 20th, 2010 at 9:43 am «

  I don’t know what point he was trying to make. Literature classes ideally should study literature. Sherri Tepper doesn’t qualify. Nancy Kress either for that matter. Still, all in all, it’s not so bad. I did read a couple of good books for that class. A Door Into Ocean is amazing for example, and relatively obscure, I doubt I would have stumbled upon it on my own. Not many hard-sci authors use Biology, and it’s a great story to boot.

  Of course I worship at the altar of Kage Baker myself.
• Rayne March 21st, 2010 at 5:24 am «

  I’d forgotten to come back to this post, don’t know if you’ll see this. The first time I read your post I thought the “aging hippy professor” you referred to was a woman. I mean, I know aging hippies and many of them are women, and the ones who care about women’s literature of any genre are women.

  Big, big difference that this was a male professor. There most certainly is a political component, and completely different perspective on the contents of the work from a male professor’s perspective. He would be far less likely to place as much emphasis or importance on the relationships between individuals in writings as a female professor might, far more emphasis on any areas of competition and friction within a text — which will make the perspective more political than intimate. There may have been more emphasis on effectiveness rather than on quality of the writing as well.

  And I suspect it’s very much this schism in male/female Mars/Venus consciousness which would have made this class very frustrating for you.

  Could also be very much what we are dealing with in Rep. Stupak; he’s focusing on the rules very tightly instead of on the relationships of the people involved in health care. Rules don’t assure our quality of life, particularly when one makes rules for others they never have to live by.
3. letsgetitdone March 20th, 2010 at 8:32 am «

   Why would women, let alone women in positions of power, willingly throw themselves under the bus to become second-class citizens?

   You’ve got me. I don’t understand this. I also don’t know why women in the United States have voted for the Republican Party in the numbers that they have over the years. Real “identification with the aggressor” going on.
• hctomorrow March 20th, 2010 at 9:51 am «

  The thing is, of course, just voting for the Senate bill with Nelson’s language isn’t much better. I don’t know why people aren’t more outraged about this. Stigmatizing abortion coverage is stigmatizing women. Any health insurance that doesn’t cover both genders for all legal procedures equally is dicriminatory.

  Nelson still makes women sit at the back of the bus. At best the seats are a little more comfortable.