Squeeing About Superheroines by Tansy Rayner Roberts — #monthofjoy
There’s a lot to critique about the role of women in superhero comics and associated media — and I spend a lot of time and energy doing exactly that. But today, I’m here to talk about a bunch of reasons to be super excited about female superheroes, and what’s being written, drawn and performed either right now or in the future. 1) Wonder Woman It’s a really good time to be a Wonder Woman fan. We’re drawing to the end of Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s legendary run on the character, which was one of the few creative success stories to come out of the DC Comics New 52. I’ve particularly liked the heavy focus on Greek mythology, the retro and non-exploitative art direction, and the supporting cast. Keeping Diana mostly outside the rest of continuity for these comics has helped with the consistency of the story, meaning (hopefully) that they can continue in graphic novel format to be an accessible gateway to the character for many years to come.
“Where Are the Wise Crones in Science Fiction?” by Athena Andreadis (Reprint)
[This essay first appeared at the Astrogator’s Logs of Starship Reckless.] “The childishness noticeable in medieval behavior, with its marked inability to restrain any kind of impulse, may have been simply due to the fact that so large a proportion of active society was actually very young in years.” — Barbara Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century Until recently, women died on the average younger than men, primarily in childbirth – though they also died from overwork, undernourishment and beatings, like the beasts of burden they often resembled, or were killed in infancy for having the wrong hardware between their legs. However, this changed in the last few decades. UN records indicate that most of the world’s aged are now women (ignoring the “girl gap” of China, India and other cultures that deem sons a sine qua non). Concurrently, biology is (reluctantly) coming to the conclusion that grandmothers, particularly maternal ones, may have made humans who they are.
Adventures in SF Parenting: A SFWA Kerfuffle
Yes, I realize calling the most recent incidence of sexism in SFWA a “kerfuffle” somewhat diminishes the importance of the situation, but I’m going to try to make up for that in body of this post. As you may, or may not, know, I have two daughters. They are 11 (almost 12!) and 13 years of age. They are not considered “normal” by society because they are “geeks;” they are not considered beautiful by society because they don’t look like models; they are not considered equal because they are girls. They are, however, white girls, so they’ll have more opportunities than a lot of people. My challenge is to make them aware that though they are “normal,” “beautiful,” and “equal” in MY eyes, that they are not necessarily any of those things to the broader society in which we live. The further challenge is to teach them that not only do they not HAVE to be the former two (normal & beautiful), but also that they should, nay, NEED, to embrace themselves as amazing human beings regardless of what society tells them. As for the latter (equal), the challenge is to fight EVERY SINGLE INSTANCE of sexism and bigotry that I come across so that they see that it’s one thing to not be equal, but it’s an entirely more awful thing to take that lying down.
Feminism in Science Fiction and Being a Feminist Ally
I had an interesting conversation with a good friend of mine the other day. She’s far more educated in Feminism than I — I never took a Women’s Studies course at the University, nor did I have many Feminist friends in college. (I was a geek.) Therefore, I read as much as I can on my own, talk with other Feminists, and form my own opinions. My friend stated that she firmly believes that men cannot be Feminists. They can only be Feminist Allies. She believes that men who claim the Feminist label are prone to use their male privilege to define Feminism, which is, in itself, a form of oppression. In short, when the oppressor defines for the oppressed what is oppressive there’s an instant conflict of interest. I’m conflicted about this, I have to admit. On one hand, she has a point. I think of this argument whenever white people declare whether or not something is ‘racist.’ It swiftly mutates into dictating to another person what their feelings are — dictating to them the words (and situations) by which they’re allowed to be insulted. So. Not. Cool. On the other hand, I believe Feminism must be inclusive in order to work, and telling men they can’t be Feminists is being exclusive.
179. Ann Leckie (a.k.a. Singularitrix) — Ancillary Justice (An Interview + Giveaway)
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode179AnInterviewWAnnLeckie/SandF%20–%20Episode%20179%20–%20An%20Interview%20w%20Ann%20Leckie.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSEmpires, spaceships, and corruption, oh my! Author Ann Leckie joins us to discuss her much-discussed novel, Ancillary Justice. We talk about gender paradigms (in her work and elsewhere), research, colonial empires, science fiction as a genre, and much more! We hope you enjoy the episode! Giveaway Rules: Answer the following question: What is your favorite science fiction novel? Submit your answer as a comment below, an email message to skiffyandfanty[at]gmail[dot]com, or as a Tweet to @skiffyandfanty We’ll get in contact when we pick a winner on the 13th of December! Note: If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 179 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Ann’s Website Orbit Books John Harris’ Website You can also support this podcast by signing up for a one month free trial at Audible. Doing so helps us, gives you a change to try out Audible’s service, and brings joy to everyone. Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
178. Emma Newman (a.k.a. Tea & Cake) — The Split Worlds Trilogy
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode178AnInterviewWEmmaNewman/SandF%20–%20Episode%20178%20–%20An%20Interview%20w%20Emma%20Newman.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSEmpires, the Fae, and cake, oh my! Emma Newman, author of The Split Worlds Trilogy, joins Paul and Shaun to discuss her novels, the mentality of empires, feminism in her work, history, and much more. We hope you enjoy the episode! Note: If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 178 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Emma’s Website Emma’s Twitter Emma’s Books Tea & Jeopardy Angry Robot Books You can also support this podcast by signing up for a one month free trial at Audible. Doing so helps us, gives you a change to try out Audible’s service, and brings joy to everyone. Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
