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List of works featuring middle-aged or old women

2007-06-05T21:26:08Z

204.13.42.130: /* Names */ typos and links

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==Names==
* '''Anne''' in [[The Sparrow]] by [[Mary Doria Russell]]
* '''Antiquity''' in ''[[Zeta Base]]'' by [[Judith Alguire]] (Naiad Press, 1991). A central character about whom the book revolves is not just any old lady, she is the revered old lady of this far future earth-based federation. In fact her name is Antiquity, to make the point. She is viewed as a bit of a doddering and perhaps senile old fool by many of the characters of the book, who are proved to be wrong when she is proved to be right.
* '''[[Gift (character)|Gift]]''' in "On the High Marsh" by [[Ursula K. Le Guin]]
* '''[[Molly Grue]]''' in [[The Last Unicorn]] by [[Peter S. Beagle]]
* '''[[Madame Guderian]]''' in ''[[The Many-Colored Land]]'' by [[Julian May]] (1981) (Madame Guderian, an older woman, is one of the central characters in the latter half of the book; she retires to The Many-Colored Land to help to right some of the wrongs.)
* '''[[Gwilan]]''' in "[[Gwilan's Harp]]" by Ursula Le Guin
* '''Harriet''' in "Malheur Country" by Ursula Le Guin
* '''[[Ista]]''' in [[Paladin of Souls]] by [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]
* '''[[Mrs. Klapper]]''' in [[A Fine and Private Place]] by [[Peter S. Beagle]]
* '''[[Ofelia]]''', the protagonist of [[Remnant Population]] by [[Elizabeth Moon]]
* '''[[Gytha (Nanny) Ogg]]''' in many [[Discworld]] books by [[Terry Pratchett]]
* '''Sophie''' - a young woman who is enchanted to be old in ''[[Howl's Moving Castle]]'' by [[Diana Wynne Jones]]
* '''[[Hazel Mead Stone]]''' in [[The Rolling Stones]] by [[Robert A. Heinlein]]
* '''"Sur"''' by Ursula Le Guin
* '''Tamara''' in"[[The Pathways of Desire]]" by Ursula Le Guin
* '''[[Tenar]]''' in [[Tehanu]] and [[The Other Wind]] by Ursula Le Guin (grandmother)
* '''[[Esmerelda (Granny) Weatherwax]]''' in many [[Discworld]] books by [[Terry Pratchett]]
* '''Irma "Geddon" Wornow''' in Top Ten #1 - #12 by [[Alan Moore]], et al.
* '''[[Yoss]]''' in "Betrayals" by Ursula Le Guin

==Works==

* [[Patricia Anthony]] . "White Boy" in [[Eating Memories]]
* [[Peter S. Beagle]] . "The Last Song of Sirit Byar" (character of Mircha Del) in [[Giant Bones]]
* [[Leonora Carrington]]. [[The Hearing Trumpet]]
* [[Myrna Elana]]. "[[Hourglass City]]"
* [[Suzette Haden Elgin]]. [[Ozark Series]].
* [[Carol Emshwiller]]. "[[The Start of the End of the World]]" in The Norton Book of Science Fiction
* [[Molly Gloss]] [[A Dazzle of Days]]
* [[Robert A. Heinlein]] . [[Citizen of the Galaxy]] (tough grandmother)
* -[[The Number of the Beast]]
* [[Nalo Hopkinson]]. [[Brown Girl in the Ring]] (grandmother)
* [[Sharon Lee]] & [[Steve Miller]] [[Local Custom]]
* --. [[Carpe Diem]]
* [[Anna Livia]]. [[Bulldozer Rising]] (1988, Onlywomen Press)
* Macavoy. [[Tea with the Black Dragon]]
* [[Marya Mannes]]. [[They]]
* [[Vonda McIntyre]]. [[Starfarers series]]
* [[Madeleine E. Robins]]. [[The Stone War]]
* [[Mary Doria Russell]]. [[Children of God]] (elder female character is alien, but feels very much like an "older woman" character)
* [[Theodore Sturgeon]]. "Granny Won't Knit"

==Other suggestions==
* [[Anne McCaffrey]], ''[[Dragonsong]]''
* [[Sheri Tepper]], ''[[Gibbons' Decline and Fall]]'' (middle-aged female protagonists)
* [[Jo Walton]], ''[[The King's Name]]'' (middle-aged female protagonist)

==Sources==
* Added Beagle, Moore, & some of the Le Guin cites from cavlec LiveJournal entry "http://www.livejournal.com/users/cavlec/38947.html Ugly and old women inSF/F]" from 2005/4/1. A few other entries culled from the readers' commentary (Robins, Lee/Miller, Elgin). Many other suggestions are in the readers' comments, but many of them seem to be for "homely" or "ugly" young women, not "crones." Also, many of the suggestions for "old women" really seem to be about middle-aged women. And certainly middle-aged women might qualify for this list, but many people seem to define mid-30s as "middle-aged" — so without further explanation I haven't included the work. It's worth reading throught his reader list, though.

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Susan R. Matthews

2007-06-05T21:21:23Z

204.13.42.130: /* Works */ typo

'''Susan R. Matthews''' is a SF writer, best known for her Jurisdiction Universe stories featuring [[Andrej Kosciusko]], an official torturer.

==Commentary==
Interesting slashy, trashy, [[hard sf]] books that explore power relationships, war, politics, [[slavery and enslavement|slavery or indentured servitude]], [[torture]], [[military|military life]], [[rape]], class, [[masculinity]] (IMHO from a feminist perspective; showing what happens when you look at patriarchy vs. individual 'nice men'; damage done to men under patriarchy)--[[User:Liz Henry|Liz Henry]] 00:01, 21 April 2007 (PDT)

==Works==

;Jurisdiction Universe series
Male protagonist, Andrej Kosciusko, a [[torturer]] and medical officer in the military
* ''[[An Exchange of Hostages]]'' (1997)
* ''[[Prisoner of Conscience]]'' (1998)
* ''[[Hour of Judgment]]'' (1999)
* ''[[The Devil and Deep Space]]'' (2002)
* ''The Inquisitor's Cup'' (forthcoming)
* ''Safehaven'' (forthcoming)
* ''Crimes Against Humanity'' (forthcoming)

Under Jurisdiction, but not Andrej Kosciusko novels
* ''[[Warring States]]''
* ''[[Angel of Destruction]]''

;Other fiction:
* ''[[Avalanche Soldier]]''
* ''[[Colony Fleet]]''

* [http://www.sff.net/people/susan.scribens/home.HTM Susan Matthews website]

==Awards==
* 1998 Philip K. Dick nominee
* 1998, 1999 John Campbell Award nominee

==Further reading==
* http://www.locusmag.com/index/b332.html#A4660
* [http://www.sfsite.com/revus/revumatthews.htm SF Site short reviews]

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Gendered "Otherness" Experiences in the Body

2006-04-28T17:14:58Z

204.13.42.130: /* Multiple psyches/souls inhabiting the same body */ -- added Matt Ruff as example

Many writers have chosen to explore gender roles and the impact of gender on characters' lives and experiences by having their characters live as the other (or another) gender. In SF, this is often sex changes, or alien sexes; in historical or fantasy fiction, there can be "body swaps" between characters, magical transformations, or characters -- often female -- who live and pass as male. Characters may also have "souls" or "spirits" that multiply inhabit the same body, in both science fiction and fantasy.

Some examples:

==="Passing women" and girls ===
The female character has some compelling reason to live as a male, often to avoid physical danger while traveling, or to take advantage of greater adventure or job opportunities. This is a particularly common way for [[YA fiction]] to explore gender issues. "Passing women" have shown up in plenty of non-SF works as well, again, particularly in YA fiction. "[[Passing women]]" are part of a broader phenomena of, usually, members of discriminated-against classes "[[passing]]" themselves as members of the privileged classes. Examples:
* [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]], [[Hawkmistress!]] (1982) (girl disguises herself as boy and passes for male)
* [[Maureen McHugh]], [[Mission Child]] (woman lives and passes as man)

===Sex changes, body swaps, soul migrations ===
Focusing on one character who changes their sex, takes over or incarnates into a different sexed body, or swaps bodies with another character, lets the author explore otherness. In the gender context, can provide opportunities for humor and political commentary as psychically "other" characters attempt to adjust to the gender expectations and norms for their new body-gender. Also inherently explores the question of the essentiality of gender and whether it resides in the body or the "soul", or both.

Some authors have also used frequent sex changes as a way of de-essentializing gender or showing that it is No Big Deal; for example, by showing multiple reincarnations across gender, or simple and ubiquitous sex-change technology.

Examples:

* [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s [[A Civil Campaign]] ([[1999]]) (a minor female character undergoes a sex change in order to get around [[primogeniture]])
* [[Angela Carter]]'s [[The Passion of New Eve]]
* "Switch", by Blake Edwards (a man is "punished" for his sexist ways when he dies by coming back as a woman; he redeems his evil ways by dying in childbirth)
* [[Lynn Flewelling]], [[The Bone Doll's Twin]] and [[Hidden Warrior]]
* [[Ursula K. Le Guin]], [[The Left Hand of Darkness]] (classic gender-exploration novel; the world is peopled with hermaphrodites who phase in and out of male or female genders ("[[kemmer]]"); in a later short story, Le Guin explored the differences in sexual experiences across the genders)
* [[Kim Stanley Robinson]], [[The Years of Rice and Salt]] (2002) (reincarnation across multiple genders; some demonstration of sexism in society, but the characters' spiritual essence appears to be genderless)
* [[Geoff Ryman]], [[The Warrior Who Carried Life]] (magical transformation of female to male body)
* [[Thorne Smith]], [[Turnabout]] ([[1931]]) (an early instance of body swapping in literature; probably the thematic inspiration for mostly non-sexual "Freaky Friday" type body swapping films)
* [[Virginia Woolf]], [[Orlando]] ([[1928]]) (and see [[Sally Potter]]'s film adaptation, ([[1993]]))

====Technology makes changing sex easy, and fun, too====
* [[Tanith Lee]], [[Drinking Sapphire Wine]] and [[Don't Bite the Sun]]
* [[John Varley]], his "Eight Worlds" universe, particularly [[Steel Beach]] and [[The Golden Globe]]

===Multiple psyches/souls inhabiting the same body===
A special instance of soul migrations etc., but the dual (or multiple) inhabitance in the same body permits the author to engage characters in cross-gender dialogue; verbalize their gender dysphoria; comment on the other person's experience or their own experience of the other person's body; show blended gendered experiences (as in sudden [[bisexual|bisexuality]])
* [[Robert A. Heinlein]], [[I Will Fear No Evil]]
* [[Tanya Huff]], [[Quarters Series]]
* [[Matt Ruff]], [[Set This House in Order]]

See also [[gender]], [[sex]], [[transgender]], [[transsexual]], [[cross-dressing]], [[hermaphroditism]], [[intersex]], [[neuter]], [[sexuality]]