The Female Man

Rating:
Summary: And then, and so, it was
Review: This innovative feminist science fiction classic centers on the story of four women, each from a different universe, whose worlds suddenly intersect. Jeannine is a librarian in a world where the Great Depression has never ended. Joanna is living in the 1970s in a world much like our own. Janet is from a lesbian utopia called Whileaway, where only women exist. The fourth woman is from a future where the men and women are literally warring with each other. Russ uses these women to express and explore notions of gender, sexuality, politics, and human rights in a unique style incorporating a quirky (and somewhat dated) sense of humor. While it may not have the immediacy of "The Handmaid's Tale" or "Woman on the Edge of Time", "The Female Man" stands alongside such feminist works such as "Les Guérillères", where it challenges how a story is told and gives the reader a refreshing view of what the fantasy/sci fi genre can be.

Rating:
Summary: The Great American Feminist Science Fiction Novel
Review: This is the book that convinced me that I don't necessarily hate science fiction. It is also the book that convinced my roommate's macho boyfriend and I that we COULD find a feminist ground on which we were both comfortable. Much of Russ's work is entertaining, powerful, and intelligent; THE FEMALE MAN surpasses anything else that I have read by her (or virtually anyone else) in all of those categories. She does use angry characters, but she uses them to raise questions, rather than to spew her own anger. Her use of the multiple first person and of parallel realms may confuse some readers, but this confusion is easily overcome. TFM is absolutely the earth-shatteringest book I've read. It should be required reading for young feminists and utopia/sci-fi fans, and recommended reading for virtually everyone else.

Rating:
Summary: Has aged very poorly
Review: This rambling bore of a book was one of 18 nominated for a Nebula award in 1975, but it certainly hasn't aged well. Russ ends the book "Do not complain when at last you become quaint and old-fashioned...Rejoice little book! For on that day , we will be free!" This pretentious closing gives The Female Man more self-credit than it deserves. The author thoughtfully provided some disjointed text in Part 7, Section III that sums up my feelings about the book: "maunderings of antiquated feminism...this shapeless book...some truth buried in a largely hysterical...of very limited interest. I should ... another tract for the trash-can...burned her bra and thought that . . . no characterization, no plot...really important issues are neglected while...another shrill polemic which the...this pretense at a novel...trying to shock... the usual boring obligatory references to Lesbianism [and statutory rape no less!]... drivel." If it's satire, it's not funny, except for a couple of pages where the assassin (man-killin' and android-lovin') messes with the minds of some barbarians. Male characters are mostly relegated to leering two-dimensional aspiring rapists. If you are interested in gender-issue science fiction, there are far superior examples, such as works by Ursula Le Guin.

Rating:
Summary: Has aged very poorly
Review: This rambling bore of a book was one of 18 nominated for a Nebula award in 1975, but it certainly hasn't aged well. Russ ends the book "Do not complain when at last you become quaint and old-fashioned...Rejoice little book! For on that day , we will be free!" This pretentious closing gives The Female Man more self-credit than it deserves. The author thoughtfully provided some disjointed text in Part 7, Section III that sums up my feelings about the book: "maunderings of antiquated feminism...this shapeless book...some truth buried in a largely hysterical...of very limited interest. I should ... another tract for the trash-can...burned her bra and thought that . . . no characterization, no plot...really important issues are neglected while...another shrill polemic which the...this pretense at a novel...trying to shock... the usual boring obligatory references to Lesbianism [and statutory rape no less!]... drivel." If it's satire, it's not funny, except for a couple of pages where the assassin (man-killin' and android-lovin') messes with the minds of some barbarians. Male characters are mostly relegated to leering two-dimensional aspiring rapists. If you are interested in gender-issue science fiction, there are far superior examples, such as works by Ursula Le Guin.

Rating:
Summary: "Why isn't more speculative fiction like this?"
Review: This story is brilliant. Reading it was like waking up from an ugly miasma of teen-boy-oriented fiction into a refreshing world of possibility. The futures that are presented are radical and original. Best of all, the characters and societies have active, strong female aspects. As a man reading this story, I was particularly inspired to examine my own gender-based preconceptions.