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A Brief History of Feminist SF and Women in SF
A Brief History of Feminist SF and Women in SF


=BF (Before <I>Frankenstein</I>)=
{{spoiler}}


* 1666/1668 [[Margaret Cavendish]], [[The Blazing World]]
==BF (Before ''Frankenstein'')==
* [[1762]] [[Sarah Scott]], [[A Description of Millennium Hall]]


SF per se did not exist, but many of the stories that were told, and eventually published, relied on fantastical premises of one sort or another, often including magical, religious, and mythical imagery, beings or events. The imagined civilization, whether it be utopian, the Kingdom of Heaven, or otherwise, cropped up here and there.


=Nineteenth Century CE: After <I>Frankenstein</I>=
* [[1405]] [[Christine de Pizan]], ''[[The Book of the City of Ladies]]''
* [[1666]] [[Margaret Cavendish]], ''[[The Blazing World]]''
* [[1762]] [[Sarah Scott]], ''[[A Description of Millennium Hall]]''
* [[1794]] [[Ann Radcliffe]], ''[[The Mysteries of Udolpho]]'' (quintessential gothic novel; supernatural events ultimately shown to be non-supernatural)
* [[1798]]; rev. [[1803]] [[Jane Austen]], ''[[Northanger Abbey]]'' (a satirical gothic novel)


The early 19th century formats were still shaping and being developed. Gothic novels were common, with supernatural or possibly supernatural elements.
==Nineteenth Century CE: ''Frankenstein'' and Beyond (1818-1919)==


In the mid-later part of the 19th century, a wide variety of utopian stories coming out of social and utopian movements; also many supernatural and ghost stories.  
The early 19th century formats were still shaping and being developed. [[Gothic]] novels remained popular, with supernatural or possibly supernatural elements. Mary Shelley's ''[[Frankenstein]]'' emerged in part from this tradition.


The late 19th and early 20th century saw a suffragette backlash in literature: novels in which humorless women take over the world, for good or for ill; valiant men with a sense of humor often took it right back to the satisfaction of both sexes.  
In the mid-later part of the 19th century, a wide variety of [[utopian]] stories emerged from social and utopian movements. A conscious feminism picked up on many of the themes of the suffragettes, and produced specifically gender-based attacks on the patriarchy, positing that a female society might be wiser, more peaceful, more humane.


* [[1818]] [[Mary Shelley]], [[<I>Frankenstein</I>]]
The late-19th century fascination with the supernatural led to many supernatural and [[ghost stories]]; relatedly, the themes in [[gothic]] novels continued to often include supernatural aspects.
* [[1827]] [[Jane Webb Loudon]], [[<I>The Mummy!: A Tale of the Twentieth Century]]


* [[1872]] [[J. Sheridan Le Fanu]], [["Carmilla"]] (an early, possibly the first, lesbian vampire story published)
The late 19th and early 20th century saw a suffragette [[backlash]] in literature: novels in which [[humorless feminism|humorless]] women take over the world, for good or for ill; valiant men with a sense of humor often took it right back to the satisfaction of both sexes.  
* [[1880-81]] [[Mary E. Bradley]] publishes [[Mizora: A Prophecy]]
* [[1915]] [[Charlotte Perkins Gilman]] publishes [[Herland]]
* [[1918]] [[Frances Stevens]] publishes [[Citadel of Fear]]
* [[1918]] [[Gertrude Franklin Atherton]] publishes [[The White Morning]]


=The 20th Century AF: After the Great War=
* [[1818]] [[Mary Shelley]], ''[[Frankenstein]]''
The pulp era begins, and brings with it women writers, often writing [[pseudonymously]] or under [[gender-ambiguous names]], such as [[C.L. Moore]].
* [[1827]] [[Jane Webb Loudon]], ''[[The Mummy!: A Tale of the Twentieth Century]]''
* [[1872]] [[J. Sheridan Le Fanu]], "[[Carmilla]]" (an early, possibly the first, lesbian vampire story published)
* [[1880-81]] [[Mary E. Bradley]] publishes ''[[Mizora: A Prophecy]]''
* [[1892]] [[Charlotte Perkins Gilman]] publishes ''[[The Yellow Wallpaper]]'' turning the ghost story on its head in an early feminist critique of what [[Betty Friedan]] later named "the feminine mystique".
* [[1915]] [[Charlotte Perkins Gilman]] publishes ''[[Herland]]''
* [[1918]] [[Frances Stevens]] publishes ''[[Citadel of Fear]]''
* [[1918]] [[Gertrude Franklin Atherton]] publishes ''[[The White Morning]]''
 
==The 20th Century: After the Great War (1920-1945)==
The pulp era began, and brought with it women writers, often writing [[pseudonymously]] or under [[gender-ambiguous names]], such as [[C.L. Moore]].
 
Strong socialist and fascist currents in reaction to economic crises in Europe and North America generated a number of radical critiques of fascism and totalitarianism, including several important works from female writers.  
   
   
* [[1926]] [[Thea von Harbou]] publishes [[Metropolis]]
* [[1926]] [[Thea von Harbou]] publishes ''[[Metropolis]]''
* [[1928]] [[Virginia Woolf]] publishes [[Orlando]]
* [[1926]] [[Sylvia Townsend Warner]] publishes ''[[Lolly Willowes]]''
* [[1935]] [[Katharine Burdekin]] publishes [[The End of This Day's Business]]
* [[1928]] [[Virginia Woolf]] publishes ''[[Orlando]]''
* [[1935]] [[Katharine Burdekin]] publishes ''[[The End of This Day's Business]]''
* [[1940]] [[Karin Boye]] publishes ''[[Kallocain]]''
* [[1941]] First appearance of [[Wonder Woman]], one of the first female [[superheroes]]


=The 20th Century AF: After WW2=
==The 20th Century: After World War II (1945-1967)==
SF popularity continues to grow, and male and female writers enter the field in increasing numbers. Women still frequently write with pseudonyms or gender-ambiguous names, or pseudonymously with male writers using a male pseudonym.
SF popularity continues to grow, and male and female writers enter the field in increasing numbers. Women still frequently write with pseudonyms or gender-ambiguous names, or pseudonymously with male writers using a male pseudonym.


In US SF, anxieties over nuclear war, Communism, and the changing roles of women during and after WW2 sometimes played out in gender-related SF. A number of "sex war" stories appeared, often depicting a socialist, hive-like societies run by women; as in the suffragette backlash, the societies run by women were authoritarian, humorless, dull, and lack creative fire and ingenuity, and they were often static or even dying societies.
In US SF, anxieties over nuclear war, Communism, and the changing roles of women during and after WWII sometimes played out in gender-related SF. A number of "[[war of the sexes]]" stories appeared, often depicting the society run by women as a hive-like metaphor for socialism. As in the suffragette backlash, the societies run by women were authoritarian, humorless, dull, and lacked creative fire and ingenuity, and they were often static or even dying societies.


Prominent new writers in the 40s include [[Judith Merril]], [[Leigh Brackett]] and [[Miriam Allen deFord]].
Prominent new writers in the '40s include [[Judith Merril]], [[Leigh Brackett]] and [[Miriam Allen deFord]]. [[Theodore Sturgeon]], a male writer who wrote strong women characters, also began publishing in the '40s.


* 1948 [[Judith Merril]] publishes [["That Only a Mother"]]
* [[1948]] [[Judith Merril]] publishes "[[That Only a Mother]]"
* 1948 [[Shirley Jackson]] publishes The Lottery
* [[1948]] [[Shirley Jackson]] publishes "[[The Lottery]]"
* 1948 [[Lisa Ben]] publishes "New Year's Day", the first modern "gay identity" SF story
* [[1948]] [[Lisa Ben]] publishes "[[New Year's Day]]", the first modern "gay identity" SF story
* 1948 [[Wilmar Shiras]] publishes "In Hiding", which was later developed into a novel, <I>Children of the atom</I> (1953)
* [[1948]] [[Wilmar Shiras]] publishes "[[In Hiding]]", which was later developed into a novel, ''[[Children of the Atom]]'' (1953)


Prominent new women writers in the 50s include [[Katharine MacLean]], [[Margaret St. Clair]], [[Zenna Henderson]], and [[Andre Norton]].  
Prominent new women writers in the '50s include [[Katharine MacLean]], [[Margaret St. Clair]], [[Zenna Henderson]], [[Kate Wilhelm]], and [[Andre Norton]].  


* 1954 "Femizine" An "all female" SF fan zine created in England, later revealed to be a hoax.  
* [[1950]] [[Judith Merril]] publishes ''[[Shadow on the Hearth]]''
* [[1952]] [[Zenna Henderson]] begins publishing [[The People]] series
* [[1953]] [[Judith Merril]] publishes ''[[Daughters of Earth]]''
* [[1954]] "[[Femizine]]" An "all female" SF fan zine created in England, later revealed to be a hoax.  
* [[1957]] [[Kate Wilhelm]] publishes "The Mile-Long Spaceship"
* [[1958]] [[Cele Goldsmith Lalli]] takes over the editorship of ''Fantastic'' magazine. One year later, she also becomes the editor of ''Amazing Stories.''


* 1960 [[Theodore Sturgeon]] publishes [[Venus Plus X]]
Prominent new women writers in the '60s are almost too many to name here but a selection include: [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]], [[Rosel George Brown]], [[Sonya Dorman]], [[Carol Emshwiller]], [[Sylvia Louise Engdahl]], [[Phyllis Gotlieb]], [[Madeleine L'Engle]], [[Ursula K. Le Guin]], [[Anne McCaffrey]], [[Naomi Mitchison]], [[Joanna Russ]], [[James Tiptree, Jr.]], and many others.  [[Samuel R. Delany]], an out gay man who writes strong women characters, also begins publishing in the 1960s.


Prominent new women writers in the 60s are almost too many to name here but a selection include: [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]], [[Rosel George Brown]], [[Sonya Dorman]], [[Sylvia Louise Engdahl]], [[Phyllis Gotlieb]], [Madeleine L'Engle]], [[Ursula K. Le Guin]], [[Naomi Mitchison]], [[James Tiptree, Jr.]], [[Kate Wilhelm]], and many others.
* [[1960]] [[Theodore Sturgeon]] publishes ''[[Venus Plus X]]''
* [[1961]] [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]] publishes ''[[The Door Through Space]]''
* [[1962]] [[Naomi Mitchison]] publishes ''[[Memoirs of a Spacewoman]]''
* [[1962]] [[Madeleine L'Engle]] publishes ''[[A Wrinkle in Time]]''
* [[1962]] [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]] publishes ''[[Planet Savers]]'', first novel in the [[Darkover]] series
* [[1966]] [[Ursula K. Le Guin]] publishes her first two novels, ''[[Rocannon's World]]'' and ''[[Planet of Exile]]''
* [[1966]] [[Rosel George Brown]] publishes ''[[Sibyl Sue Blue]]''
* [[1967]] [[Pamela Zoline]]'s publishes her story [["The Heat Death of the Universe"]] in Michael Moorcock's ''New Worlds''
* [[1967]] [[Anna Kavan]] publishes ''[[Ice (novel)|Ice]]''
* [[1967]] Harlan Ellison publishes ''[[Dangerous Visions]]'', a ground-breaking anthology including work by deFord, Delany, Dorman, Emshwiller, and Sturgeon


=Third Generation Feminism, Stonewall & Beyond=
==The Golden Age of Feminist SF (1968-1979) ==


[[Lesbian separatism]] and [[gay Liberation]] made strong impacts on feminist SF, and the developing world of [[fanfic]]. Many more women entered the field. A feminist backlash became prominent, focusing less on hive-like socialist societies and more on lesbianism and male fears of sexual redundancy.


* [[1968]] [[Joanna Russ]] publishes ''[[Picnic on Paradise]]''
* [[1968]] [[Uhura|Lt. Uhura]] and Captain Kirk debut the first interracial kiss on American TV in "Plato's Stepchildren", ''[[Star Trek]]'' Season 3
* [[1968]] [[Anne McCaffrey]] becomes the first woman to win a [[Hugo Award]] for fiction, for the novella "[[Weyr Search]]", which was later incorporated into the novel ''[[Dragonflight]]''
* [[1969]] [[Ursula K. Le Guin]] publishes ''[[The Left Hand of Darkness]],'' which wins both the [[Nebula Award]] and the [[Hugo Award]]
* [[1971]] [[Monique Wittig]] publishes ''[[Les Guérillères]]''
* [[1971]] [[Dorothy Bryant]] self-publishes ''[[The Kin of Ata Are Waiting for You]],'' which stylistically echoes late 19th century threads of metaphoric fiction and paves the way for [[New Age fiction]]
* [[1972]] [[Joanna Russ]] publishes "[[When It Changed]]"
* [[1973]]  [[James Tiptree, Jr.]] publishes "[[The Girl Who Was Plugged In]]"
* [[1974]] [[Suzy McKee Charnas]] publishes ''[[Walk to the End of the World]],'' the first book in the [[Holdfast Series]]
* [[1974]] [[Pamela Sargent]] publishes ''[[Women of Wonder: Science Fiction Stories by Women about Women]],'' the first anthology dedicated to women in SF
* [[1974]] [[Diane Marchant]] publishes the first known ''[[Star Trek]]'' slash, "A Fragment Out of Time," an oblique Kirk/Spock story (in "Grup" #3)
* [[1975]] [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]] publishes ''[[The Heritage of Hastur]]''
* [[1975]] [[Tanith Lee]] publishes ''[[The Birthgrave]]''
* [[1975]] [[Naomi Mitchison]] publishes ''[[Solution Three]]''
* [[1975]] [[Joanna Russ]] publishes ''[[The Female Man]]''
* [[1975]] The "[[Women in Science Fiction Symposium|Women in Science Fiction]]" symposium, edited by [[Jeffrey D. Smith]], is published in [[Khatru]] 3&4
* [[1975]] Robert Silverberg describes [[James Tiptree, Jr.]]'s writing as "ineluctably masculine" in the introduction to Tiptree's second collection, ''[[Warm Worlds and Otherwise]],'' apparently attempting to dispel rumors that Tiptree is female
* [[1976]] [[Susan Wood]] sets up a feminist panel at [[MidAmericon]], apparently the first panel on "women and science fiction", which leads ultimately to the founding of [[A Women's Apa]].
* [[1976]] [[Samuel R. Delany]] publishes ''[[Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia]]''
* [[1976]] [[Marge Piercy]] publishes ''[[Woman on the Edge of Time]]''
* [[1976]] [[Carol Seajay]] begins [[Feminist Bookstore News]], a selection tool geared toward women's bookstores; an SF column begins -- ? when. [[Susanna Sturgis]] writes the SF column for many years.
* [[1976]] First K/S fanzine appeared, "Alternative: Epilog to Orion", written by G. Downes.
* [[1977]] The first [[WisCon]] is held in Madison, Wisconsin.
* [[1977]] All-women's issue of ''[[Analog]]'' published
* [[1977]] A "room of our own" opened at Westercon in Vancouver by [[Susan Wood]], as a women's space (1977; not 1978?)
* [[1978]] E.M. Broner publishes ''[[A Weave of Women]]''
* [[1978]] Vonda McIntyre publishes ''[[Dreamsnake]]''
* [[1978]] [[The Women's Press]] is founded in the U.K. and begins to publish a line of feminist science fiction.
* [[1979]] The gay/lesbian (eventually [[GLBT]]) bookstore "[[A Different Light]]" opens, naming itself after [[Elizabeth A. Lynn]]'s 1978 novel
* [[1979]] [[Octavia E. Butler]] publishes ''[[Kindred]]''
* [[1979]] [[Sally Miller Gearheart]] publishes ''[[The Wanderground]]''
* [[1979]] [[Ridley Scott]]'s film ''[[Alien]]'' features [[Ellen Ripley]], the first significant female action hero in a major American film series


=== Sources & External Links ===  
==The Eighties: Cyberpunk & "Post-Feminism" (1980-1990)==
 
::: '''''"I'll be a post-feminist in the post-patriarchy."'''''
 
The [[feminist sex wars]] reach their peak in the 80s, not coincidentally at the same time that [[women's erotica]] is enjoying a boom. SF in general shows a much greater level of sexual explicitness, and [[fanfic]] gets naughty and needs a spanking.
 
[[Marion Zimmer Bradley]]'s ''[[The Mists of Avalon]]'' kicks off a burst of novels portraying [[women's spirituality]] and goddess-based religions, ultimately feeding into the New Age fiction trend.  ''The Mists of Avalon'' also initiates a popular trend of re-envisioning histories, myths, and iconic stories from feminist or subaltern perspectives.
 
Numerous women's presses and bookstores are founded in the 1970s with the collective energy of the feminist movement and lesbian separatists; lesbian & gay-themed lines, presses, and bookstores followed shortly thereafter.
 
The English-speaking world discovers magical realism, and numerous important new works are published or translated into English.
 
The bisexual, goth, androgynous, vampire thing picks up steam in the 80s.
 
* [[1980]] [[Octavia E. Butler]] publishes ''[[Wild Seed]]''
* [[1980]] [[Elizabeth A. Lynn]] publishes ''[[The Northern Girl]],'' the final book in her [[Chronicles of Tornor]] trilogy
* [[1980]] [[Kate Wilhelm]] publishes ''[[Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang]]''
* [[1981]] Julian May publishes The Many Colored Lands (first in Pleiocene Cycle)
* [[1981]] New Victoria Publishers publish ''[[WomanSpace|WomanSpace: Future and Fantasy, Stories and Art by Women]]''
* [[1981]] [[Elisabeth Vonarburg]] publishes ''[[La Silence de la Cité]]''; translated into English in 1988 as ''The Silent City''
* [[1982]] [[Tanith Lee]] publishes ''[[The Silver Metal Lover]]''
* [[1982]] Smith College hosts a 3-week symposium on feminist speculative fiction
* [[1983]] [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]] publishes ''[[The Mists of Avalon]]''
* [[1983]] [[Eric Garber]] and [[Lyn Paleo]] publish ''[[Uranian Worlds|Uranian Worlds: A Reader's Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction and Fantasy]]'' (revised and updated in 1990)
* [[1983]] [[Mary Gentle]] publishes ''[[Golden Witchbreed]]''
* [[1983]] [[Joanna Russ]] publishes [[How to Suppress Women's Writing]], a work of nonfiction
* [[1984]] [[Suzette Haden Elgin]] publishes ''[[Native Tongue]],'' the first book in an explicitly feminist trilogy
* [[1984]] Marion Zimmer Bradley edits and published the first volume of [[Sword and Sorceress]], a series of anthologies in which many new writers (including [[Emma Bull]] get started, and a consistent source for stories about women (specifically, swordswomen and sorceresses).
* 1984 Jeffrey M. Elliott publishes ''[[Kindred Spirits|Kindred Spirits: An Anthology of Gay and Lesbian Science Fiction Stories]],'' the first explicitly gay-lesbian themed SF anthology, reprinting previously published GL stories
* [[1984]] [[Samuel R. Delany]] publishes ''[[Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand]],'' a major novel with a gay protagonist
* [[1985]] [[Margaret Atwood]] publishes ''[[The Handmaid's Tale]],'' a near-future feminist dystopia later made into a film and an opera
* [[1986]] [[Sigourney Weaver]] kicks ass in the film [[Aliens]], sequel to [[Alien]], directed by [[James Cameron]]
* [[1986]] [[Joan Slonczewski]] publishes ''[[A Door Into Ocean]]''
* [[1986]] The [[Gaylaxian Science Fiction Society]] is formed
* [[1987]] [[Toni Morrison]] publishes ''[[Beloved]],'' a ghost story
* [[1987]] [[Pamela Sargent]] publishes ''[[The Shore of Women]]''
* [[1987]] [[Gwyneth Jones]] publishes ''[[Divine Endurance]]''
* [[1987]] [[Octavia E. Butler]] publishes ''[[Dawn]]'', the first book of the [[Xenogenesis]] trilogy
* [[1987]] [[Alice Sheldon]], who wrote as [[James Tiptree, Jr.]] and [[Raccoona Sheldon]] dies at her own hand
* [[1988]] [[Carol Emshwiller]] publishes ''[[Carmen Dog]]''
* [[1988]] [[C.J. Cherryh]] publishes ''[[Cyteen]]''
* [[1988]] [[Sheri S. Tepper]] publishes ''[[The Gate to Women's Country]]''
* [[1988]] [[Gaylaxicon]], the first GLB SF convention, is held in ____________________
* [[1988]] The [[Lambda Literary Awards]] are inaugurated, with a joint category for "mystery/sf"; first award is given to a mystery
* [[1988]] [[Sharon Yntema]] publishes [[More than 100 Woman Science Fiction Writers]]: An Annotated Bibliography
* [[1989]] [[Susanna Sturgis]] edits ''[[Memories and Visions|Memories and Visions: Women's Fantasy and Science Fiction]]'', followed soon by ''[[The Women Who Walk Through Fire|The Women Who Walk Through Fire: Women's Fantasy and Science Fiction, Vol.2]], two anthologies from [[The Crossing Press]]
 
==The Gay Nineties: Queer Identity & Default Feminism (1991 onward)==
 
Explicitly feminist themes in SF continued to be explored in feminist SF, but the true triumph of the [[Secret Feminist Cabal]] is the acceptance of the goals and analyses of feminism in much other literature. Strong women characters have become a norm for male and female writers alike. Kick-ass woman  heroes made a major splash on TV and film.
 
In the post-[[Feminist Sex Wars]] years, lesbian, feminist, and woman-centered erotica boomed, spawning many anthologies on every conceivable subject. And feministSF moved online, in all its forms: [[fanfic]], geeky websites, mailing lists, and the like.
 
* [[1991]] The [[James Tiptree, Jr. Award]] to recognize SF or fantasy that explores and expands gender roles is announced by [[Pat Murphy]] at [[WisCon]].
* [[1991]] The [[Lambda Literary Awards]] split the lesbian mystery/sf category, and create a category for "Lesbian Science Fiction/Fantasy"; first Lambda in this category goes to [[Jessica Amanda Salmonson]]'s anthology of GLB supernatural fiction, ''[[What Did Miss Darrington See?]])''
* [[1991]] [[Jewelle Gomez]] publishes ''[[The Gilda Stories]]; [[Marge Piercy]] publishes ''[[He, She and It]]''; Rebecca Ore publishes ''[[The Illegal Rebirth of Billy the Kid]]''
* [[1992]] [[Angela Carter]] dies
* [[1992]] [[Nicola Griffith]] publishes [[Ammonite]]
* [[1992]] [[Sally Potter]] directs [[Orlando (film)|"Orlando"]]
* [[1992]] The first [[James Tiptree Jr. Award]] goes to [[Eleanor Arnason]] for ''[[A Woman of the Iron People]]'' and [[Gwyneth Jones]] for ''[[White Queen]]''
* [[1993]] [[The X-Files]] television series brings a major woman character into series SF television. The series also accounts for a tremendous surge in fanfic, which moves online in vast numbers.
* [[1993]] [[Pam Keesey]] publishes ''[[Daughters of Darkness: Lesbian Vampire Stories,]]'' one of the first explicitly lesbian anthologies of fantasy/horror
* [[1993]] First known slash mailing list,  "Virgule," is created; membership is limited to women
* [[1994]] First website on feminist SF (ultimately becoming http://feministSF.org)
* [[1994]] [[Nancy Kress]] publishes ''[[Beggars in Spain]]''; [[Kathleen Ann Goonan]] publishes ''[[Queen City Jazz]]''; [[Maureen McHugh]] publishes ''[[Half the Day Is Night]]''
* [[1995]] ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' series premiere airs in the US (1995 Sept. 9; UK airdate, 1996 Sept. 8)
* [[1995]] [[Nancy Springer]] publishes ''[[Larque on the Wing]]''
* [[1996]] [[Circlet Press]] releases the first publication of erotic, feminist SF, a chapbook called ''[[Telepaths Don't Need Safewords]]''
* [[1997]] [[Judith Merril]] dies
* [[1997]] [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] series premieres in the US
* [[1998]] The [[Gaylactic Network]] establishes the [[Spectrum Awards]] "to honor works in science fiction, fantasy and horror which include positive explorations of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered characters, themes, or issues."
* [[1998]] - The [[Secret Feminist Cabal]] goes public by publishing ''[[Flying Cups and Saucers|Flying Cups and Saucers: Gender Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy]], the first anthology of Tiptree-jury recognized short fiction
* [[1998]] [[Nalo Hopkinson]] publishes ''[[Brown Girl in the Ring]]''
* [[1999]] [[FemSpec]], academic journal of feminist science fiction, is founded
* [[1999]] [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]] dies
* [[1999]] [[Naomi Mitchison]] dies
 
==Rockin' in the 21st==
New ventures exploding, and for good reason.
 
* [[2000]] [[Broad Universe]] is founded to promote women writers of SF/F/H
* [[2000]] [[Feminist Bookstore News]] shuts down after a 25-year run, during which it saw the peak of many feminist presses and bookstores around the English-speaking world and then the demise of most of them
* [[2002]] [[Whileaway LiveJournal community]] for the discussion of feminist SF begins on June 26
* [[2003]] [[Monique Wittig]] dies
* [[2004]] [[Aqueduct Press]], the first press explicitly dedicated to feminist SF, is founded by [[L. Timmel Duchamp]]
* [[2006]] [[Octavia E. Butler]] dies
* [[2006]] feministSF wiki is begun
* [[2006]] [[WisCon]] celebrates its 30-year anniversary and reaches 1000 members
* [[2006]] Questions of feminism in public science fiction space move into the foreground when [[Harlan Ellison]] reaches for [[Connie Willis]]' breast at the [[Hugo Award]] ceremonies.
* [[2006]] - The Year of Women in Comics
* [[2006]] - [[Girl-Wonder.org]] is launched for women in comics
* [[2006]] - [[Ormes Society]] is founded for black women in comics
* [[2007]] - Launch of [[The Iris Network]] and [[Cerise Magazine]] are established for women in gaming
 
== Sources & External Links ==


* [[User:Lquilter|Laura Quilter]], 2001-2006, A Brief History of Feminist SF/F and Women in SF/F, available at http://feministsf.org/community/history.html
* [[User:Lquilter|Laura Quilter]], 2001-2006, A Brief History of Feminist SF/F and Women in SF/F, available at http://feministsf.org/community/history.html
[[Category:Calendar]]
[[Category:History of feminist SF]]

Latest revision as of 05:17, 4 August 2011

A Brief History of Feminist SF and Women in SF



Spoiler warning: This page and any other dealing with the content of works may have plot and/or ending details revealed.





BF (Before Frankenstein)

SF per se did not exist, but many of the stories that were told, and eventually published, relied on fantastical premises of one sort or another, often including magical, religious, and mythical imagery, beings or events. The imagined civilization, whether it be utopian, the Kingdom of Heaven, or otherwise, cropped up here and there.

Nineteenth Century CE: Frankenstein and Beyond (1818-1919)

The early 19th century formats were still shaping and being developed. Gothic novels remained popular, with supernatural or possibly supernatural elements. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein emerged in part from this tradition.

In the mid-later part of the 19th century, a wide variety of utopian stories emerged from social and utopian movements. A conscious feminism picked up on many of the themes of the suffragettes, and produced specifically gender-based attacks on the patriarchy, positing that a female society might be wiser, more peaceful, more humane.

The late-19th century fascination with the supernatural led to many supernatural and ghost stories; relatedly, the themes in gothic novels continued to often include supernatural aspects.

The late 19th and early 20th century saw a suffragette backlash in literature: novels in which humorless women take over the world, for good or for ill; valiant men with a sense of humor often took it right back to the satisfaction of both sexes.

The 20th Century: After the Great War (1920-1945)

The pulp era began, and brought with it women writers, often writing pseudonymously or under gender-ambiguous names, such as C.L. Moore.

Strong socialist and fascist currents in reaction to economic crises in Europe and North America generated a number of radical critiques of fascism and totalitarianism, including several important works from female writers.

The 20th Century: After World War II (1945-1967)

SF popularity continues to grow, and male and female writers enter the field in increasing numbers. Women still frequently write with pseudonyms or gender-ambiguous names, or pseudonymously with male writers using a male pseudonym.

In US SF, anxieties over nuclear war, Communism, and the changing roles of women during and after WWII sometimes played out in gender-related SF. A number of "war of the sexes" stories appeared, often depicting the society run by women as a hive-like metaphor for socialism. As in the suffragette backlash, the societies run by women were authoritarian, humorless, dull, and lacked creative fire and ingenuity, and they were often static or even dying societies.

Prominent new writers in the '40s include Judith Merril, Leigh Brackett and Miriam Allen deFord. Theodore Sturgeon, a male writer who wrote strong women characters, also began publishing in the '40s.

Prominent new women writers in the '50s include Katharine MacLean, Margaret St. Clair, Zenna Henderson, Kate Wilhelm, and Andre Norton.

Prominent new women writers in the '60s are almost too many to name here but a selection include: Marion Zimmer Bradley, Rosel George Brown, Sonya Dorman, Carol Emshwiller, Sylvia Louise Engdahl, Phyllis Gotlieb, Madeleine L'Engle, Ursula K. Le Guin, Anne McCaffrey, Naomi Mitchison, Joanna Russ, James Tiptree, Jr., and many others. Samuel R. Delany, an out gay man who writes strong women characters, also begins publishing in the 1960s.

The Golden Age of Feminist SF (1968-1979)

Lesbian separatism and gay Liberation made strong impacts on feminist SF, and the developing world of fanfic. Many more women entered the field. A feminist backlash became prominent, focusing less on hive-like socialist societies and more on lesbianism and male fears of sexual redundancy.

The Eighties: Cyberpunk & "Post-Feminism" (1980-1990)

"I'll be a post-feminist in the post-patriarchy."

The feminist sex wars reach their peak in the 80s, not coincidentally at the same time that women's erotica is enjoying a boom. SF in general shows a much greater level of sexual explicitness, and fanfic gets naughty and needs a spanking.

Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon kicks off a burst of novels portraying women's spirituality and goddess-based religions, ultimately feeding into the New Age fiction trend. The Mists of Avalon also initiates a popular trend of re-envisioning histories, myths, and iconic stories from feminist or subaltern perspectives.

Numerous women's presses and bookstores are founded in the 1970s with the collective energy of the feminist movement and lesbian separatists; lesbian & gay-themed lines, presses, and bookstores followed shortly thereafter.

The English-speaking world discovers magical realism, and numerous important new works are published or translated into English.

The bisexual, goth, androgynous, vampire thing picks up steam in the 80s.

The Gay Nineties: Queer Identity & Default Feminism (1991 onward)

Explicitly feminist themes in SF continued to be explored in feminist SF, but the true triumph of the Secret Feminist Cabal is the acceptance of the goals and analyses of feminism in much other literature. Strong women characters have become a norm for male and female writers alike. Kick-ass woman heroes made a major splash on TV and film.

In the post-Feminist Sex Wars years, lesbian, feminist, and woman-centered erotica boomed, spawning many anthologies on every conceivable subject. And feministSF moved online, in all its forms: fanfic, geeky websites, mailing lists, and the like.

Rockin' in the 21st

New ventures exploding, and for good reason.

Sources & External Links

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