The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (The Wesleyan Early Classics of Science Fiction Series)

by Justine Larbalestier

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"Runner-up for the Hugo Best Related Book Award (2003) The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction is a lively account of the role of women and feminism in the development of American science fiction during its formative years, the mid-20th century. Beginning in 1926, with the publication of the first issue of Amazing Stories, Justine Larbalestier examines science fiction's engagement with questions of femininity, masculinity, sex and sexuality. She traces the debates over the place of show more women and feminism in science fiction as it emerged in stories, letters and articles in science fiction magazines and fanzines. The book culminates in the story of James Tiptree, Jr. and the eponymous Award. Tiptree was a successful science fiction writer of the 1970s who was later discovered to be a woman. Tiptree's easy acceptance by the male-dominated publishing arena of the time proved that there was no necessary difference in the way men and women wrote, but that there was a real difference in the way they were read."-- show less

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4 reviews
Justine Larbalestier’s Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction is an invaluable survey of community creation and response to male/female interaction within the SF genre between 1926 and 1973. This interaction engages characters within science fictions, but also takes shape between science fiction creators and fans, and, in the memorable case of James Tiptree, Jr., between writer and personae.

Apart from Larbalestier’s thoughtful analysis of battle-of-the-sexes engagements in the SF community—carefully documented and discussed—this book is also extremely useful for its comprehensive list of works by women in the early days of SF. In addition, her final two chapters, about Tiptree and the Tiptree Award, respectively, are show more interesting considerations of future directions which SF may take.

I found this book invigorating, and my reading list has suddenly grown enormously.
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A definite read for anyone who has a critical or passing interest in the history of the genre and women's roles in it. It's essential for those who wish to run their mouths about how women have/haven't been accepted in the genre, and how women are/aren't accepted today.

For the full review, just click here: http://calico-reaction.livejournal.com/40496.html
interesting interpretation of classic SF tropes

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19+ Works 6,776 Members
Justine Larbalestier was born and raised in Sydney, Australia. She is a young-adult fiction author and is best known for the Magic or Madness trilogy: Magic or Madness, Magic Lessons and Magic's Child. Her other works include Liar, How to Ditch Your Fairy, and The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction. In 2014 her title, Razorhurst, won the show more Aurealis Award in the Horror Novel category. This title also made the Inky Awards 2015 shortlist and the Queensland Literary Awards 2015 shortlist in the Young Adult category. She will be at the Melbourne Writers Festival Schools Program 2015. My Sister Rosa, published January 2016, won the 2018 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, Young adult fiction. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Mayorga, Gabriel (Cover artist)

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Original title
the
Original publication date
2002-06-20

Classifications

Genres
Literature Studies and Criticism, Nonfiction
DDC/MDS
813.0876209Literature & rhetoricAmerican literature in EnglishAmerican fiction in EnglishBy typeGenre fictionAdventure fictionSpeculative fictionScience fictionCollections and anthologiesHistory of American science fiction
LCC
PS374 .S35 .L29Language and LiteratureAmerican literatureAmerican literatureProseProse fiction
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Statistics

Members
140
Popularity
233,538
Reviews
4
Rating
(4.07)
Languages
English
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
3
ASINs
1