Feminist Science Fiction

Hi guys, this is most probably very specific to Jatinder, Terri and me, but may be of a side interest to you! Especially if you are in any way inspired by literature or science fiction. I'd recommend reading a few, they're pretty good.


Key Feminist Science Fiction Novels

- Herland - Charlotte Perkins Gilman 1915
- The Female Man - Joanna Russ 1970
- Woman on the Edge of Time - Marge Piercy 1976
- She - H. Rider Haggard (not necessarily fem sci-fi but a key text for us)
- The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin 1969
- Frankenstein - Mary Shelley (asexual reproduction)


Characters
- Wonderwoman / bionic woman
- Robotic woman - Maria in Fritz Lang's Metropolis
- Buffy the vampire slayer
- The amazon
- She who must not be named (She)
- Barbarella



We plan to involve the idea of a female only society, using this genre as our inspiration and contextual base.


There is a huge tradition for single sex utopias within literature and they generally have the same themes. Freedom from oppression of men, clean unpolluted worlds, highly evolved, etc. They are mostly written by women. There is not so much of a tradition for all male worlds, with the suggestion being that the status quo for men puts them in a better position, so there is no great fantasy in removing women.


- http://www.wiscon.info/ is the leading feminist science fiction convention

There is also the photographer Justine Kurland that Bruno mentioned in his talk. Boarding school films often become like a female utopia also I think... eg. Picnic at Hanging Rock, Innocence, Cracks - all 3 have sinister elements as well which is probably emphasized by the lack of resemblance to real life... all female, all same age.