Feminist SF Wiki - User contributions [en]

Talk:Vagina dentata

2007-02-22T04:24:41Z

74.65.247.118: new => fictional

I haven't read ''Snow Crash'', but surely [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagina_dentata vagina dentata] aren't anywhere ''near'' being '''new''' inventions, much less new ''technologies''. They've been part of mythical, misogynist biologies for centuries. --[[User:Ide Cyan|Ide Cyan]] 16:18, 21 February 2007 (PST)

: i don't think i said it was new, did i? i meant to say "fictional". it's a theme from the past, and showed up as a technology in snow crash, and then a couple of years ago a woman in south africa invented one. --[[User:74.65.247.118|74.65.247.118]] 20:24, 21 February 2007 (PST)

Category:2006 panels

2007-02-19T08:31:21Z

74.65.247.118: cats

[[Category:Panels by year|2006]]
[[Category:2006|Panels]]

Category:WisCon 30 panels

2007-02-19T08:31:01Z

74.65.247.118: cats

[[Category:WisCon 30|Panels]]
[[Category:2006 panels|WisCon 30]]

She Unnames Them

2007-02-19T08:28:41Z

74.65.247.118: cat

Story by [[Ursula K. Le Guin]].

[[category:Reinterpretative works]]

She Unnames Them

2007-02-19T08:28:24Z

74.65.247.118: cat

[[category:Reinterpretative works]]

Category:Electronic discussion groups

2007-02-19T08:27:52Z

74.65.247.118: cat

[[Category:Groups]]

Whileaway (LiveJournal community)

2007-02-19T08:27:42Z

74.65.247.118: cat

==External Links==

* [http://community.livejournal.com/whileaway/ Whileaway LiveJournal]

[[category:Online resources]]
[[category:Electronic discussion groups]]

FeministSF.org

2007-02-19T08:27:26Z

74.65.247.118: cat

Website founded by Laura Quilter in December 1994 as two webpage bibliographies on Sheri S. Tepper and Ursula K. Le Guin, respectively. Soon after developed into the "feminist science fiction, fantasy and utopian website". In 1997-98 moved to feministSF.org.

feministSF.org, the org, is now a loose association of folks who coordinate various projects which are hosted at feministSF.net. Projects include:
* the feministSF listserve (which was split for a time into feministsf and feministsf-lit; also known as FSFFU and FSFFU-lit) -- http://lists.feministsf.net/listinfo.cgi/feministsf-feministsf.net
* the feministSF book discussion group (BDG), which is a monthly discussion of a particular book; the BDG takes place on the feministSF list but has a separate website -- http://bdg.feministsf.net/
* the feministSF wiki (FSFwiki)! http://wiki.feministsf.net
* a group blog, getting started in mid-2006, http://blogs.feministsf.net/
* an archive of feministSF scholarship & web presence, planned to debut late 2006, at http://archive.feministsf.net/

Other projects may be proposed -- send email to webmistress at feministsf.org

[[category:1994 publications]]
[[category:Information resources]]
[[category:Online resources]]

FeministSF.org

2007-02-19T08:27:17Z

74.65.247.118: cats

Website founded by Laura Quilter in December 1994 as two webpage bibliographies on Sheri S. Tepper and Ursula K. Le Guin, respectively. Soon after developed into the "feminist science fiction, fantasy and utopian website". In 1997-98 moved to feministSF.org.

feministSF.org, the org, is now a loose association of folks who coordinate various projects which are hosted at feministSF.net. Projects include:
* the feministSF listserve (which was split for a time into feministsf and feministsf-lit; also known as FSFFU and FSFFU-lit) -- http://lists.feministsf.net/listinfo.cgi/feministsf-feministsf.net
* the feministSF book discussion group (BDG), which is a monthly discussion of a particular book; the BDG takes place on the feministSF list but has a separate website -- http://bdg.feministsf.net/
* the feministSF wiki (FSFwiki)! http://wiki.feministsf.net
* a group blog, getting started in mid-2006, http://blogs.feministsf.net/
* an archive of feministSF scholarship & web presence, planned to debut late 2006, at http://archive.feministsf.net/

Other projects may be proposed -- send email to webmistress at feministsf.org

[[category:1994 Publications]]
[[category:Information resources]]
[[category:Online resources]]

Loose cannon

2007-02-19T08:25:52Z

74.65.247.118: cat kinds of feminists

A crazy kind of feminist who might unpredictably explode in the face of sexism or other stupidity.

Useful in a crisis when the secured cannons are not flexible enough to point everywhich way.

Can be easily thrown overboard to lighten the ship and make it faster when enemy pursuit is hot on your tail.

See also: [[loose canon]]

[[category:Kinds of feminists]]

Ammonite (novel)

2007-02-19T08:24:31Z

74.65.247.118: cats

[[Nicola Griffith]]'s first published novel. In a world with no men, showed that men aren't needed ... for oppression, brutality, and human stupidity. A compelling rejoinder to idealized views of women from [[difference feminism]].

This book won the [[James Tiptree, Jr. Award|Tiptree]] and [[Lambda Literary Awards|Lambda Awards]] in [[1993]].

==Authorial Influences & Thoughts==

==Community Responses==

==Personal Responses & Influences==

[[category:1992 Publications]]
[[category:Novels]]
[[Category:Works with queer characters]]
[[category: Female-only worlds]]
[[category:Tiptree Award winning works]]

Suzy McKee Charnas

2007-02-19T08:23:20Z

74.65.247.118: de-wikifying generic links

'''Suzy McKee Charnas''' (born [[1939]] in [[New York City]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[novel]]ist and [[short story]] writer, writing primarily in the genres of [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy]]. She has won several awards for her fiction, including the [[Hugo Award]], the [[Nebula Award]] and the [[James Tiptree, Jr. Award]]. She lives in New Mexico.

== Bibliography ==

=== Novels ===

*''[[Dorothea Dreams]]'' ([[1986]])
*''[[The Kingdom of Kevin Malone]]'' ([[1993]])
*''[[The Ruby Tear]]'' ([[1997]])

=== Series ===

*[[The Holdfast Chronicles]]
**''[[Walk to the End of the World]]'' ([[1974]])
**''[[Motherlines]]'' ([[1978]])
**''[[The Furies]]'' ([[1994]])
**''[[The Conqueror's Child]]'' ([[1999]])

*[[Sorcery Hill]]
**''[[The Bronze King]]'' ([[1985]])
**''[[The Silver Glove]]'' ([[1988]])
**''[[The Golden Thread]]'' ([[1989]])

=== Collections ===

*''[[The Vampire Tapestry]]'' ([[1980]])
*''[[Moonstone and Tiger-Eye]]'' ([[1992]])
*''[[Music of the Night]]'' ([[2001]]) ''ebook''

=== Non-fiction ===

*''[[Strange Seas]]'' ([[2001]]) ''ebook''
*''[[My Father's Ghost]]'' ([[2002]])

=== Notable Short Works ===

*"[[Scorched Supper on New Niger]]" ([[1980]])
*"[[Unicorn Tapestry]]" ([[1980]])
*"[[Listening to Brahms]]" ([[1988]])
*"[[Boobs (short story)|Boobs]]" ([[1989]])

== External links ==

* [http://www.suzymckeecharnas.com/ The web site of Suzy McKee Charnas.]

[[Category:Writers|Charnas, Suzy McKee]]
[[Category:1939 births|Charnas, Suzy McKee]]
[[Category:Fantasy writers|Charnas, Suzy McKee]]
[[Category:Hugo Award winning authors|Charnas, Suzy McKee]]
[[Category:Nebula Award winning authors|Charnas, Suzy McKee]]
[[Category:Living people|Charnas, Suzy McKee]]
[[category:Tiptree Award Winning Authors|Charnas, Suzy McKee]]

Eleanor Arnason

2007-02-19T08:22:45Z

74.65.247.118: cats

'''Eleanor A. Arnason''' (born [[1942]]) is an [[United States|American]] author of [[science fiction]] [[novel]]s and [[short stories]]. Her work often depicts cultural change and conflict, usually from the viewpoint of characters who cannot or will not live by their own societies' rules. This anthropological focus has led many to compare her fiction to that of [[Ursula K. Le Guin]]. She has won the [[James Tiptree, Jr. Award]] and the [[Mythopoeic Awards|Mythopoeic Award]] (both for ''[[A Woman of the Iron People]]''), the [[Spectrum Award]] (for "Dapple") and the [[Homer Award|HOMer Award]] (for "Stellar Harvest"). She lives in Minnesota.

==Bibliography==
===Novels===
*''[[The Sword Smith]]'' ([[1978]])
*''[[To the Resurrection Station]]'' ([[1986]])
*''[[Daughter of the Bear King]]'' ([[1987]])
*''[[A Woman of the Iron People]]'' ([[1991]])
*''[[Ring of Swords]]'' ([[1993]])

===Short Story Collections===
*''[[Ordinary People: A Collection]]'' (2005)

===Short stories===
'''Hwarhath stories'''
*"The Hound of Merin" ([[1993]])
*"The Lovers" ([[1994]])
*"The Semen Thief" ([[1994]])
*"The Small Black Box of Morality" ([[1996]])
*"The Gauze Banner" ([[1998]])
*"Feeding the Mother: A Hwarhath Religious Anecdote" ([[1998]])
*"Dapple: A Hwarhath Historical Romance" ([[1999]])
*"The Actors" ([[1999]])
*"Origin Story" ([[2000]])
*"The Potter of Bones" ([[2002]])
*"The Garden: A Hwarhath Science Fictional Romance" ([[2004]])

'''Lydia Duluth stories'''
*"Stellar Harvest" ([[1999]])
*"The Cloud Man" ([[2000]])
*"Lifeline" ([[2001]])
*"Moby Quilt" ([[2001]])

'''Selected other stories'''
*"The Warlord of Saturn's Moons" ([[1974]])
*"The Dog's Story" ([[1996]])
*"The Grammarian's Five Daughters" ([[1999]])
*"Knapsack Poems" ([[2002]])

==External links==
*[http://freesfonline.de/authors/arnason.html Eleanor Arnason's online fiction] at [http://freesfonline.de/ Free Speculative Fiction Online]
*[http://www.tc.umn.edu/%7Ed-lena/Eleanor%20&%20trog.html Eleanor Arnason website]

==Categories & Tags==

[[Category:1942 Births|Arnason, Eleanor Atwood]]
[[Category:Science fiction writers|Arnason, Eleanor Atwood]]
[[Category:Living people|Arnason, Eleanor Atwood]]
[[category:Female writers|Arnason, Eleanor]]
[[category:Tiptree Award Winning Authors|Arnason, Eleanor]]
[[category:Writers|Arnason, Eleanor]]

Bloodchild and Other Stories

2007-02-19T08:22:16Z

74.65.247.118: cats

A collection of works by [[Octavia E. Butler]].

[[category:1995 Publications]]
[[category:Collections]]

Samuel R. Delany

2007-02-19T08:21:28Z

74.65.247.118: de-linking a lot of generic terms

'''Samuel Ray "Chip" Delany, Jr.''' (born [[April 1]], [[1942]], [[New York City]]) is an award-winning [[United States|American]] [[science fiction]] [[author]]. He has written works that have garnered substantial critical acclaim, including the novels ''[[Nova (novel)|Nova]]'', ''The Einstein Intersection'', ''[[Hogg (novel)|Hogg]]'', and ''[[Dhalgren]]''. He is a professor of Comparative Literature and Creative Writing at Temple University, and is also known in the [[academic]] world as a [[literary critic]].

===Biography===
Delany was born and raised in Harlem and attended the Dalton School and Bronx High School of Science. Delany and the poet [[Marilyn Hacker]], who met in high school, were married for several years and have a daughter.

Delany was a published science fiction author by the age of 20, and published six well-regarded science fiction novels between 1962 and 1968, as well as several prize-winning short stories (collected in ''Driftglass''). ''Dhalgren'' was published in [[1974|1974]]. His main literary project through the late 1970s and 1980s was the Neveryon series.

Delany has published several [[autobiographical]]/semi-autobiographical accounts of his life as a black and [[gay]] writer, including his [[Hugo award]] winning autobiography, ''[[The Motion of Light in Water]]''.

In recent years, Delany has been teaching English, Comparative Literature, and writing. Delany spent 11 years teaching at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a year and a half at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York|University at Buffalo, and moved to the English Department of Temple University in [[2001]]. He has also published several books of criticism, interviews, and other essays.

===Themes===
Most of his works deal more explicitly with sexual themes than is common. ''[[Dhalgren]]'' and ''[[Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand]]'' include several sexually explicit passages, and several of his books such as ''[[Equinox (book)|Equinox]]'', ''[[The Mad Man]]'', ''[[Hogg (novel)|Hogg]]'' and ''[[Phallos (novel)|Phallos]]'' could even be considered [[pornography]], a term that Delany himself has endorsed before. He has published several books of literary criticism, with an emphasis on issues in [[science fiction]] and other [[paraliterature|paraliterary]] [[genre]]s, [[comparative literature]], and [[queer studies]].

==Selected bibliography==
===Fiction===
====Novels====
*''[[The Jewels of Aptor]]'' (1962)
*''[[Captives of the Flame]]'' (1963) - also published as ''Out of the Dead City''
*''[[The Towers of Toron]]'' (1964)
*''[[City of a Thousand Suns]]'' (1965)
*''[[The Ballad of Beta-2]]'' (1965)
*''[[Empire Star]]'' (novella) (1966)
*''[[Babel-17]]'' (1966, [[Nebula Award]])
*''[[The Einstein Intersection]]'' (1967, [[Nebula Award]])
*''[[Nova (novel)|Nova]]'' (1968), ISBN 0553100319
*''Equinox: The Tides of Lust'' (1973)
*''[[Dhalgren]]'' (1975), ISBN 0553148613
*''[[Triton (novel)]]'' (1976), ISBN 0553126806 - also published as ''Trouble on Triton''
*''[[Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand]]'' (1984), ISBN 0553050532
*''[[The Mad Man]]'' (1994), ISBN 1563331934
*''[[Hogg (novel)|Hogg]]'' (1995), ISBN 0932511910
*''[[Phallos (novella)]]'' (2004), ISBN 0917453417

====Return to Nevèrÿon series====
*''[[Tales of Nevèrÿon]]'' (short stories) (1979), ISBN 0553123335
*''[[Neveryóna]]'' (novel) (1983), ISBN 055301434X
*''[[Flight from Nevèrÿon]]'' (novellas) (1985), ISBN 0553248561
*''[[The Bridge of Lost Desire]]'' (novellas) (1987), ISBN 0877959315

====Short story collections====
*''Driftglass'' (1971)
*''Distant Stars'' (1981), ISBN 055301336X
*''Atlantis: Three Tales'' (1995), ISBN 0819552836
*''[[Aye, and Gomorrah]]'' (2003), ISBN 0375706712
(''[[Driftglass]]'' and ''Distant Stars'' include the [[Hugo Award|Hugo]] and [[Nebula Award]]-winning [["Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones."]] ''Aye, and Gomorrah'' is a compilation of all of Delany's short fiction, excepting the Nevèrÿon tales.)

===Nonfiction===
====Critical works====
*''[[The Jewel-hinged Jaw]]: Notes on the Language of Science Fiction'' (1977)
*''[[The American Shore]]'' (1978)
*''[[Starboard Wine]]: More Notes on the Language of Science Fiction'' (1984)
*''[[The Straits of Messina]]'' (1989), ISBN 0934933049
*''[[Silent Interviews]]'' (1995), ISBN 0819562807
*''[[Longer Views]]'' (1996), ISBN 0819562939
*''[[Shorter Views]]'' (1999), ISBN 0819563692
*''[[About Writing (Delany)|About Writing]]'' (2005), ISBN 0819567167

====Memoirs and letters====
*''Heavenly Breakfast'' (1979), ISBN 0553127969
*''[[The Motion of Light in Water]]'' (1988, a memoir of his experiences as a young gay science fiction writer; winner of the [[Hugo Award]]), ISBN 0877959471
*''Times Square Red, Times Square Blue'' (1999, a discussion of changes in social and sexual interaction in New York's [[Times Square]]), ISBN 0814719198
*''Bread & Wine: An Erotic Tale of New York'' (1999, an [[autobiographical comics|autobiographical comic]] drawn by Mia Wolff with an introduction by [[Alan Moore]]), ISBN 1890451029
*''1984'' (2000), ISBN 0966599810

==Other facts==
*Delany's name is one of the most misspelt in science fiction, with over 60 different spellings in reviews. His publisher Doubleday even misspelt his name on the title page of his book ''Driftglass'' as did the organizers of the 16th [[Balticon]] where Delany was guest of honour. Delany is [[dyslexia|dyslexic]].
*The [[Library of Congress]] incorrectly recorded his nationality as English.
*Delany's aunts were [[Sadie and Bessie Delany]], known as the ''Delany sisters''. They both lived to be over 100 years old, and published ''Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years''.
*Among Delany's more unusual credits is that he wrote two issues of the [[comic book]] ''[[Wonder Woman]]'' in 1972, during a controversial period in the publication's history when the lead character abandoned her superpowers and became a secret agent. Delany scripted issues #202 and 203 of the series.
*Delany's story ''[[Aye, and Gomorrah]]'' was included in [[Harlan Ellison]]'s ''[[Dangerous Visions]]''. Ellison gave a short introduction that ironically pointed out how Delany was one of the last straight science fiction authors.

==See also==
*[[Sex in science fiction]]
*[[African American literature]]

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*http://www.pcc.com/~jay/delany/
*[http://www.starshards.org/bibliography/ Delany bibliography]
*[http://www.pseudopodium.org/repress/KLeslieSteiner-SamuelRDelany.html Delany biography] written by Delany under his nom de plume K. Leslie Steiner
*[http://www.sfsite.com/02b/dh122.htm SF Site review of novel]
*[http://www.yetanotherbookreview.com/dhalgren.htm Yet Another Book Review review of novel]
*[http://www.pcc.com/staff/jay/delany/dhalgren.html An interpretation of the novel]
*[http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue216/classic.html Classic Sci-Fi's review of novel]
*{{isfdb name|id=Samuel_R._Delany|name=Samuel R. Delany}}

==References==
*Robert S. Bravard; Michael W. Peplow, '''Through a Glass Darkly: Bibliographing Samuel R. Delany''' in Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 18, No. 2.

==Copyright Notice==

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_R._Delany English Wikipedia entry]

This entry originated at the http://en.wikipedia.org site.
Please retain this reference if this article is copied elsewhere.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delany, Samuel R.}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:African American writers|Delany, Samuel R.]]
[[Category:Novelists|Delany, Samuel R.]]
[[Category:Writers|Delany, Samuel R.]]
[[Category:Bisexual writers|Delany, Samuel R.]]
[[Category:Feminist writers|Delany, Samuel R.]]
[[Category:Hugo Award winning authors|Delany, Samuel R.]]
[[Category:Nebula Award winning authors|Delany, Samuel R.]]
[[Category:Postmodernists|Delany, Samuel R.]]
[[Category:Queer theory|Delany, Samuel R.]]
[[Category:Science fiction writers|Delany, Samuel R.]]
[[category:Male Writers|Delany, Samuel R.]]
[[category:Self-Identified Queer Writers|Delany, Samuel R.]]

Exceptionalism

2007-02-18T13:15:54Z

74.65.247.118: /* The Other Alternative to Being an Exception */ adding notes section

'''Exceptionalism''' is the condition of something or someone which does not fit a pattern or a norm.

It is considered here in a political context, as it applies in a sexist society, though this application also extends to other systems of discrimination, such as racism and classism.

The opposite of exceptionalism is [[exemplification]], whereby the individual exemplifies or demonstrates the qualities of its class.

== Exceptionalism of the Oppressed ==
Exceptionalism applied to the oppressed raises the individual above her sex/race/economic class without upsetting the position of her class as a whole. Exceptionally, a woman can gain importance if she is perceived as different from her gender, that is, if she is singled out ''from other women'', while the rest of her gender are viewed without special consideration, and usually dismissed as a whole.

It's a variation on the "[[divide and conquer]]" theme, and its mirror image is [[scapegoating]]. Exceptionalism places every emphasis on the worth of the individual, divorcing her from her political context, and therefore discouraging her from joining others who share the same default political status in a revolutionary struggle, because her uniqueness exempts her from the consequences her gendered status.

Exceptions may gain access to privileged groups, but they never gain the ''basis'' for the power which keeps a particular class in a position of domination over another, because that very basis is what should have excluded those exceptions from participation in the first place.

This is phenomenon is linked to [[tokenism]], but whereas [[tokenism]] is the behaviour of the group or the incumbent ''towards'' including an individual they would normally exclude, for instance as a political gesture of good will or mollification, '''exceptionalism''' relates to the individual's unique status in itself, to its justifications and to the nature of the individual's difference from her peers.

Typical statements about exceptionalism go:
* "You're not like other girls."
* "That's pretty good for a woman."
* "Rising above one's class."
* "Of course, I'm not talking about ''you''."

== Exceptionalism of the Oppressor ==

Whereas exceptionalism targeted at individuals from oppressed classes seeks to raise them "above" their oppression, exceptionalism targeted at individuals from oppressor classes can take a curiously apologetic form ''when the charge is that of being an oppressor''.

As exceptionalism of the oppressed tries to exempt the oppressed from the burden of being oppressed, ''exceptionalism of the oppressor tries to exempt the oppressor from the responsability '''for''' oppression''.

The typical response against the charge that men exploit women goes:
"But not all men are like that!"

In this way, it's very similar to the process of [[scapegoating]]. The difference is that here, "don't hurt me! I'm not like them!" is a response from a member of a dominant class in the face of insurrection, rather than from a member of a subjected class in the face of oppression, and that it seeks to reject the blame ''onto'' the group, rather than ''away'' from it.

This is often followed by an attempt to invalidate the ''very notion'' of the responsability of an oppressive class by showing one or a few of its members as innocents, which marks it as a very hypocritical or very stupid refusal to systematise, to see the connections that dictate how a large number of elements function as a whole, or as outright [[mystification]].

When a member of the oppressed claims exceptionalism for one of her oppressors, [[Rebecca West]]'s definition of idiocy might explain it -- a focus on the personal, divorced from the political. But the lunacy of the politically-obsessed, which might prevent, for instance, a man from noticing that a woman is the victim of discrimination ''because she is a woman'', is conspicuously absent from the line of thought required to arrive at the conclusion that the nature of the exceptional man should override his membership to his class.

Instead, this logic demonstrates a very keen awareness of that class status, and of its implications, because a ''lack'' of such awareness would mean that the individual, failing to see his connection to the oppressor, would not try to defend himself as one of them.

== Exceptionalism in Fiction ==

Exceptionalism in fiction provides well-worn narrative tropes for female characters.

The one female character who escapes her destined gender role recurs again and again, since the conditions that require her exceptionalism to allow her to perform heroic deeds endure. That is: for as long as the rule is that women ''don't'' perform the actions that drive the story, then you must make exceptions to allow women's actions to drive the story.

Some examples of exceptionalism:

* Robin McKinley's ''[[The Hero and the Crown]]'' and ''[[The Blue Sword]]''.

* The very concept of [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]], which rests on the Slayer's exemption from the fate of helpless female characters in a horror story.<ref>But see the series finale, which attempts to undercut that exceptionalism.</ref>

* etc.

== The Other Alternative to Being an Exception ==

Conformity is not the only alternative to exceptionalism. The other alternative to exceptionalism is to ''change the rules''. To destroy the norm, rather than to try to escape it.

It is ''[[revolution]]''.

See, for instance:
* ''[[The Female Man]]'', by [[Joanna Russ]]
* etc.

==Notes==

{{reflist}}

== See also ==
[[Joanna Russ]]'s essay, "[[What Can a Heroine Do? Or: Why Women Can't Write]]".

[[Category:Feminist issues]]
[[Category:Linguistics]]
[[Category:Themes]]
[[Category:Theory]]

Exceptionalism

2007-02-18T13:15:25Z

74.65.247.118: /* Exceptionalism in Fiction */ adding note

'''Exceptionalism''' is the condition of something or someone which does not fit a pattern or a norm.

It is considered here in a political context, as it applies in a sexist society, though this application also extends to other systems of discrimination, such as racism and classism.

The opposite of exceptionalism is [[exemplification]], whereby the individual exemplifies or demonstrates the qualities of its class.

== Exceptionalism of the Oppressed ==
Exceptionalism applied to the oppressed raises the individual above her sex/race/economic class without upsetting the position of her class as a whole. Exceptionally, a woman can gain importance if she is perceived as different from her gender, that is, if she is singled out ''from other women'', while the rest of her gender are viewed without special consideration, and usually dismissed as a whole.

It's a variation on the "[[divide and conquer]]" theme, and its mirror image is [[scapegoating]]. Exceptionalism places every emphasis on the worth of the individual, divorcing her from her political context, and therefore discouraging her from joining others who share the same default political status in a revolutionary struggle, because her uniqueness exempts her from the consequences her gendered status.

Exceptions may gain access to privileged groups, but they never gain the ''basis'' for the power which keeps a particular class in a position of domination over another, because that very basis is what should have excluded those exceptions from participation in the first place.

This is phenomenon is linked to [[tokenism]], but whereas [[tokenism]] is the behaviour of the group or the incumbent ''towards'' including an individual they would normally exclude, for instance as a political gesture of good will or mollification, '''exceptionalism''' relates to the individual's unique status in itself, to its justifications and to the nature of the individual's difference from her peers.

Typical statements about exceptionalism go:
* "You're not like other girls."
* "That's pretty good for a woman."
* "Rising above one's class."
* "Of course, I'm not talking about ''you''."

== Exceptionalism of the Oppressor ==

Whereas exceptionalism targeted at individuals from oppressed classes seeks to raise them "above" their oppression, exceptionalism targeted at individuals from oppressor classes can take a curiously apologetic form ''when the charge is that of being an oppressor''.

As exceptionalism of the oppressed tries to exempt the oppressed from the burden of being oppressed, ''exceptionalism of the oppressor tries to exempt the oppressor from the responsability '''for''' oppression''.

The typical response against the charge that men exploit women goes:
"But not all men are like that!"

In this way, it's very similar to the process of [[scapegoating]]. The difference is that here, "don't hurt me! I'm not like them!" is a response from a member of a dominant class in the face of insurrection, rather than from a member of a subjected class in the face of oppression, and that it seeks to reject the blame ''onto'' the group, rather than ''away'' from it.

This is often followed by an attempt to invalidate the ''very notion'' of the responsability of an oppressive class by showing one or a few of its members as innocents, which marks it as a very hypocritical or very stupid refusal to systematise, to see the connections that dictate how a large number of elements function as a whole, or as outright [[mystification]].

When a member of the oppressed claims exceptionalism for one of her oppressors, [[Rebecca West]]'s definition of idiocy might explain it -- a focus on the personal, divorced from the political. But the lunacy of the politically-obsessed, which might prevent, for instance, a man from noticing that a woman is the victim of discrimination ''because she is a woman'', is conspicuously absent from the line of thought required to arrive at the conclusion that the nature of the exceptional man should override his membership to his class.

Instead, this logic demonstrates a very keen awareness of that class status, and of its implications, because a ''lack'' of such awareness would mean that the individual, failing to see his connection to the oppressor, would not try to defend himself as one of them.

== Exceptionalism in Fiction ==

Exceptionalism in fiction provides well-worn narrative tropes for female characters.

The one female character who escapes her destined gender role recurs again and again, since the conditions that require her exceptionalism to allow her to perform heroic deeds endure. That is: for as long as the rule is that women ''don't'' perform the actions that drive the story, then you must make exceptions to allow women's actions to drive the story.

Some examples of exceptionalism:

* Robin McKinley's ''[[The Hero and the Crown]]'' and ''[[The Blue Sword]]''.

* The very concept of [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]], which rests on the Slayer's exemption from the fate of helpless female characters in a horror story.<ref>But see the series finale, which attempts to undercut that exceptionalism.</ref>

* etc.

== The Other Alternative to Being an Exception ==

Conformity is not the only alternative to exceptionalism. The other alternative to exceptionalism is to ''change the rules''. To destroy the norm, rather than to try to escape it.

It is ''[[revolution]]''.

See, for instance:
* ''[[The Female Man]]'', by [[Joanna Russ]]
* etc.

== See also ==
[[Joanna Russ]]'s essay, "[[What Can a Heroine Do? Or: Why Women Can't Write]]".

[[Category:Feminist issues]]
[[Category:Linguistics]]
[[Category:Themes]]
[[Category:Theory]]

List of SF journals

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=Primarily Fiction=
* Analog
* Ansible
* Astounding Science-Fiction
* Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction (aka "Asimov's")
* Century (mostly SF, some non-SF fiction)
* Crank!
* Fantastic
* Infinity Plus
* Intercom (Italian)
* Interzone
* The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (aka FSF or F&SF)
* Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet (http://www.lcrw.net/lcrw/)
* Leviathan
* Tangent (some non-SF fiction)
* Trampoline
* Worlds of If

=Mixed=
* Fantastic Metropolis (http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com)
* SF Eye
* Science Fiction Weekly
* [[Strange Horizons (journal)]] (http://www.strangehorizons.com/)
* Tangent Online

=Primarily Critical=
* [[Extrapolation]]
* [[Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts]]
* [[FemSpec]]
* [[Foundation]]: The International Review of Science Fiction
* [[The Internet Review of Science Fiction]] (http://www.irosf.com/)
* [[Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies]]
* [[Journal of Mythic Arts]]
* [[Mythlore]] (from the [[Mythopoeic Society]]
* [[The New York Review of Science Fiction]]
* [[Para*Doxa]]
* [[Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature]]
* [[SFRA Review]]
* [[Science-Fiction Studies]], 1973- (http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/)
* [[Slayage]]: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies (http://slayage.tv/)
* [[Journal of Utopian Studies]]
* [[Vector (journal)|Vector]]
* [[The Wellsian]]
* [[Whoosh!]] The Journal of the International Association of Xena Studies (http://www.whoosh.org/)
* [[Tolkien Studies]]: An Annual Scholarly Review ([http://www.wvupress.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=53&products_id=72&osCsid=0da061b0442e75395f6d33fc4230ddf1 WVU Press catalog]) (an annual journal of scholarship on Tolkien)

=Trade Press=
* Locus

=FanZines=
* The Witch and the Chameleon

[[Category:Journals]]
[[Category:Scholarship]]

List of SF journals

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=Primarily Fiction=
* Analog
* Astounding Science-Fiction
* Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction (aka "Asimov's")
* Century (mostly SF, some non-SF fiction)
* Crank!
* Fantastic
* The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (aka FSF or F&SF)
* Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet (http://www.lcrw.net/lcrw/)
* Leviathan
* Tangent (some non-SF fiction)
* Trampoline
* Worlds of If

=Mixed=
* Fantastic Metropolis (http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com)
* SF Eye
* Science Fiction Weekly
* [[Strange Horizons (journal)]] (http://www.strangehorizons.com/)
* Tangent Online

=Primarily Critical=
* [[Extrapolation]]
* [[Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts]]
* [[FemSpec]]
* [[Foundation]]: The International Review of Science Fiction
* [[The Internet Review of Science Fiction]] (http://www.irosf.com/)
* [[Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies]]
* [[Journal of Mythic Arts]]
* [[Mythlore]] (from the [[Mythopoeic Society]]
* [[The New York Review of Science Fiction]]
* [[Para*Doxa]]
* [[Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature]]
* [[SFRA Review]]
* [[Science-Fiction Studies]], 1973- (http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/)
* [[Slayage]]: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies (http://slayage.tv/)
* [[Journal of Utopian Studies]]
* [[Vector (journal)|Vector]]
* [[The Wellsian]]
* [[Whoosh!]] The Journal of the International Association of Xena Studies (http://www.whoosh.org/)
* [[Tolkien Studies]]: An Annual Scholarly Review ([http://www.wvupress.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=53&products_id=72&osCsid=0da061b0442e75395f6d33fc4230ddf1 WVU Press catalog]) (an annual journal of scholarship on Tolkien)

=Trade Press=
* Locus

=FanZines=
* The Witch and the Chameleon

[[Category:Journals]]
[[Category:Scholarship]]

Template:Reflist

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<div class="references-small" {{#if: {{{colwidth|}}}| style="-moz-column-width:{{{colwidth}}}; column-width:{{{colwidth}}};" | {{#if: {{{1|}}}| style="-moz-column-count:{{{1}}}; column-count:{{{1}}} }}};" |}}>
<references/></div><noinclude>{{Template:Reflist/doc}}</noinclude>

Devil Girl from Mars

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'''''Devil Girl from Mars''''' is a 1954 science fiction film by David MacDonald. It is most notable for its influence on [[Octavia Butler]]:

: I was writing my own little stories and when I was 12, I was watching a bad science fiction movie called "Devil Girl from Mars", and decided that I could write a better story than that. And I turned off the TV and proceeded to try, and I've been writing science fiction ever since.<ref>Frances M. Beal, "Black Women and the Science Fiction Genre: Interview with Octavia Butler", ''Black Scholar'', v.17 (March-April 1986), p.14.</ref>

==Notes==

{{reflist|1}}

[[Category:Films]]
[[Category:1954 publications]]

Aliens made them do it

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'''"Aliens made them do it"''' is a science fiction trope or cliché in which the actions of (generally) human characters are caused by the influence of aliens, the pretext often being that the aliens are using human subjects as part of an experiment on the behaviour, reproductive functions, or psychology of another species.

The external factor of alien influence can be considered a modern form of [[deus ex machina]], except that rather than resolving a plot, it is often used to easily generate situations that will entertain or titillate the audience, and thus ''begin'' a plot.

The responsibility and motives of the aliens in question are rarely questioned, although there are exceptions.

== Sex ==

"Aliens made them do it" often means that the characters in question were made to have sex with each other. As such, it becomes a form of [[rape]]-by-proxy. (Cf. [[non-consensual aphrodisiacs]].)

And, as a consequence of the link between sexual activity and reproduction, sex under the "aliens made them do it" cliché may also encompass, or be fall under the excuse of, [[forced breeding]].

Examples the use of the "aliens made them do it" plot devices in relation to sex include:
* The kiss between [[Uhura]] and [[Kirk]] in "Plato's Stepchildren" (''[[Star Trek]]'' TOS)
* The episode "Day One" on ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''.
* Many, many bad B-movies.

[[Octavia E. Butler]]'s ''Xenogenesis'' series is an especially thoughtful exploration of the ramifications of this trope.

== Fighting ==

The "aliens made them do it" trope also serves as a pretext for pitting characters against each other in combat.

Examples:
* "Arena" on ''[[Star Trek]]'' (TOS): Kirk must fight the captain of another ship.
* The episode "Duel" on ''[[Blake's 7]]'', in which Travis and Blake are pitted against each other in single combat.
* etc.

== The Politics of the Cliché ==

Blaming aliens for rape, other forms of violence, and human actions in general, diverts attention from the actual perpetrators of such actions under "normal" circumstances, and may therefore disguise and mystify [[human agency]], and the structures of human societies which allow for exploitation and oppression.

It is also a useful tool for polarisation, dividing actions into "human" and "inhuman" categories, much the same way as racist and sexist propaganda will divide people into groups to justify discrimination against enemies or underclasses.

"Alien made them do it" resembles nothing so much as ugly old human [[imperialism]], and what human oppressors have done enslaving other humans, and human treatment of domesticated animals.

While this resemblance is not lost on some writers, and science fiction gives some the opportunity of exploring the point of view of the oppressed by creating a more powerful faction or bogeyman (as religion does by inventing deities to surpass human power in human imagination, but wielding them for human purposes), the action itself of creating this alien in order to force its actions onto humans enacts the replication of oppression scenarios.

And the replication of oppression scenarios all too easily and all too often simply satisfies the needs of exploitation in the first place.

Because the purpose of the manipulation of the characters is to entertain the audience.

The more lavish descriptions and portrayals of "aliens made them do it" scenarios can easily be slotted into "exploitation" products.

But, beyond this superficial observation, the political relationship of the characters in an "aliens made them do it" story, to each other, to the author, and to the audience, may magnify the exploitation or problematise it.

A writer who belongs to the dominant classes of a society has a different relationship to scenarios of exploitation than a writer from one of the oppressed classes of a society, because ''as people'' they have a different stake in exploitation to begin with.

And thus the question of ''whom'' the aliens coerce within a story becomes even more salient.

* To hold up an alien oppressor over the fate of humanity to punish humans for their misdeeds becomes a sick joke to the class of humans hurt by those misdeeds in the first place. Revoking the immunity of the powerful by punishing everyone indiscriminately in no way liberates the powerless.

* To entertain thoughts of submission to an imaginary alien poses no real threat to a member of a dominant class.

* To hold up an alien power as a threat to the humans who exploit ''you'' may be an empty gesture (for the people who oppress you) or a powerful dream (for your own people) of vindication.

* To use aliens to perpetrate actions against an underclass for your own satisfaction when you do not belong to that class is a mystification of your own power.

* To use aliens to punish yourself when you are a member of an oppressed class may be a mystification of self-loathing, and thus a consequence of oppression in itself.

It is also possible to layer such dynamics, to embed them within each other and connect them on different levels inside a narrative, and thereby create more variations.

But it would be unwise to forget the status of the author, and the political status of the audience, when trying to appreciate the value of any given "aliens made them do it" story.

== See also ==
* [[Alien experimentation on humans]]

[[Category:Plot]]
[[Category:Types of Plots]]
[[Category:Reproduction Themes]]
[[Category:Body Themes]]
[[Category: Relationship Themes]]
[[Category:Violence Themes]]
[[Category:Plot devices]]

Gendered plot devices

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Plot devices that are gendered, often (or usually) unnecessarily.

==Examples==

=== Character actions ===
* Seducing the guards as a means of escaping: this is done by female characters to male guards, and almost never in any other situation. Women's bodies provide distractions, playing on the libido of male characters, but only villainesses use long-term seduction to secure enemy loyalty, not heroines.

* Seducing the villain's accomplices as a means of undermining their power: this is done almost exclusively by male characters, who win the loyalty of a movie's secondary villainesses through sexual charisma. [[James Bond]], for instance, is notorious in this regard. Another example occurs in the movie [[Willow]], where the evil queen's daughter is kidnapped by and becomes loyal to her own prisoners, and marries one of them in the end.

=== Character functions ===
* A character whose hand in marriage is offered as a reward is almost invariably female.

* Dead spouses who only exist to motivate the hero are usually female.

=== Gadgets ===
* Sonic Lipstick in ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]''

==Discussions==

* [http://blogs.feministsf.net/?p=104 Sonic Stereotypes] by Ide Cyan and comment thread, [http://blogs.feministsf.net/ FSF blog] 2007/1/6

==See also==
* ''[[Annoying Plot Conventions, Devices, Contrivances]]''

[[Category:Plot]]
[[Category:Gendering]]
[[Category:Plot devices|Gendered]]

Category:Plot devices

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[[Category:Criticism]]
[[Category:Plot]]

Category:Plot devices

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[[Category:Criticism]]

Annoying Plot Conventions, Devices, Contrivances

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Plot Devices that Make You Roll Your Eyes

* a woman character is raped or is in danger of being raped -- the eternal [[rapability]] of female characters

* a female character dies in childbirth

* "convenient" circumstances prevent a female character from going through with her decision to have an abortion (cf. Robin in ''[[V]]'', whose alien hybrid fetus's invasive vascularisation made it impossible to remove without killing her; spontaneous miscarriages and so forth) -- therefore rendering women's reproductive choices inconsequent when that oh-so-controversial subject is broached

* using female characters to voice misogynistic and/or patriarchal ideas because it would be "too obvious" to use male characters -- victim-blaming, in short

* using evolutionary biology or the selfish gene theory as the primary reason a male and female character are drawn together sexually (''Darwin's Radio'' by Bear), or why a female character cannot possibly resist the man's man that will make the best sire of her children (''Lucifer's Hammer'' by Niven)

* the competent female needs rescuing by the man
* damsel in distress / perils of Pauline - women set up merely to be rescued
* women in refrigerators (see http://violetcorona.blogspot.com/2006/10/women-in-refrigerators.html ) - female characters of whatever level of characterization depicted as more apt to be rescued, more in need of rescuing, more often in physical danger
* innocent and universally loveable female characters that do not develop a sex drive or sex appeal until they turn evil (Doppleganger Willow from earlier in [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]], Fred from [[Angel (TV series)]]) - correlated with the amount of cleavage/leg shown.

* alien women of ANY species will inevitably be irresistably attracted to the only mid-30s male on a particular starship ([[Star Trek]], I'm looking at YOU) - even if it causes an interstellar incident
** related: females of alien species always have extremely large breasts, located in the exact same location as those of human females (i.e. they look exactly like human women except for a charming set of pointy ears, forhead ridges or swirly haircut that serves only to make them more exotic to the male characters)

* a man's casual slap (or threatened slap) of a woman that is scarcely worth mentioning again in the story and apparently does not actually bother the woman; or maybe she likes it because he has now shown himself to be a real man. Seen in Frank Miller's "Sin City" (she liked it); Rob Reiner's "The Princess Bride" (He raises the back of his hand threateningly; she flinches. "That was a warning, Highness. The next time, my hand flies on its own, for where I come from, there are penalties when a woman lies."). This is entirely distinguishable from a man and a woman involved in a physical fight, as in [[Joss Whedon]]'s "[[Firefly]]" between Mal and Saffron, or Buffy and Spike, or any slayer and various villains. "The Slap" is often stated plainly as a representation of patriarchy, as when the woman has crossed a boundary; the man may say he doesn't like to hit women but he'll make an exception, or she's crossed a line, etc. An obvious use of gendered violence to police patriarchal rules, present in both representations of the protagonists and villains.

===Contiguous lists and related rants===

* "[[The Clichés from Outer Space]]" ([[1984]]), by Joanna Russ.

* ''See also [[Clichés, Archetypes, Stereotypes of Female Characters in SF]]''
* ''See also [[Gendered plot devices]]''

[[Category:Plot]]
[[Category:Plot devices]]

Rapability

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Many - even most - stories with women in them have a moment when the story makes a point of signifying the rapability of the woman. She is threatened with rape, or fears it, or gets raped, or is protected from rape. It's very odd to realize how pervasive this is in stories, when you start looking for it. The pervasiveness contributes to a culture of fear, where real-life harrassment, combined with common narrative devices, functions as training for women to <i>be afraid</i>.

See also

* http://ragnell.blogspot.com/2006/01/feel-like-vomiting.html
* http://ragnell.blogspot.com/2006/06/depressing-list-side-introduction.html
* http://www.unheardtaunts.com/wir/

[[category:Feminist Issues]]
[[Category:Plot devices]]
[[Category:Characterization]]

Rapability

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Category:Fantasy

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[[Category:Genres]]

Category:1993 publications

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[[Category:Publications by year|1993]]
[[Category:1993|Publications]]

Category:1919 publications

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[[Category:Publications by year|1919]]
[[Category:1919|Publications]]

Category:Social science

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[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Subject classifications]]

Category:Arts and humanities

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[[Category:Subject classifications]]

Category:Works

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Works include all manner of creative and functional products from humans (or, umm, aliens, should they appear).

Ways of categorizing & organizating works
* Fictionality: fiction/nonfiction/hybrids (e.g., dramatization)
* Mode: Poetry, prose
* School: e.g., New Wave, Golden Age, Cyberpunk
* Time: year, era
* Language of publication
* Audience: YA, kids
* Amateur, fan, pro
* public domain, copyrighted, trademarked, creative commons/generously licensed
* Recognition: Awards won/nominated, best-selling, influence
* Genre (fantasy, sf)
* Nonfiction genre: essay, criticism, review of work, speech, etc.
* Plot-genre (mystery, romance, adventure)
* Sub-genre
* Themes
* Singularity/collectivity: singular work, collective work (collection or anthology), serial (series of individual works, series of interconnected works, series of one story)
* Continuity/universe: same continuity, re-envisioned versions of it, alternate versions of it (as in fanfic, Battlestar Galactica 2004)
* medium or format (text, graphics, sound, multimedia, interactive program, film/video, animated film/video, text/images (comic books, graphic novels, webcomics), dramatic work (for actors), theatrical work (live performance), performance arts, musical, sculptural, etc.
* aspects of fictional continuities: fictional characters, technologies, things, concepts, places, times, events ...

[[Category:Categories]]
[[Category:Arts and humanities]]

Category:People

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Real people.

Beings with personalities. Usually but not always "human" (<I>homo sapiens</I>).

Fictional people are "[[:Category:Characters|characters]]".

[[Category:Categories]]
[[Category:History]]
[[Category:Biology]]

Category:Events

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Things which happen in time.

[[Category:Categories]]
[[Category:History]]

Category:Conspiracies

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If we told you we'd have to kill you.

[[Category:Categories]]
[[Category:Social science]]

Category:Subject classifications

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::''This subject-based category tree is one way of getting at the information in the FSFwiki. It is particularly useful for containing subheadings and organizing material that is used as reference here in the feminist SF but which has not (yet) been a major topic of study within feminist SF.''

:: ''Topics of particular interest to the FSFwiki have been broken out as top-level headings in [[:Category:Categories]].''

[[Category:Categories]]

Category:Education

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[[Category:Social science]]

Category:History

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[[Category:Categories]]
[[Category:Social science]]

Category:Biology

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[[Category:Science]]

Category:Social science

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[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science]]

Category:Economics

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[[Category:Social science]]

Category:Subject classifications

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[[Category:Categories]]

Category:Science

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[[Category:Subject classifications]]

Category:Astronomy

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The science of the stars. ("Astrology" was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology_and_astronomy already taken].)

[[Category:Science]]

Air

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::''The novel by [[Geoff Ryman]] is [[Air (novel)]].''

A mixture of gases. Classically defined as one of the elements.

[[Category:Science]]

Air

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::''The novel by [[Geoff Ryman]] is [[Air (novel)]].''

A mixture of gases. Classically defined as one of the elements.