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Joanna Russ
29/4/11 20:33AN ENTERTAINING QUIZ.
Does "natural lemon flavored water beverage with other natural flavors" contain artificial sweeteners?
a) yes
b) no
c) THANKS, [expletive deleted], I HAVE A MIGRAINE NOW.
--
Okay, I had to get that off my chest. But really, I'm so sad that Joanna Russ has died. With a single short story she turned me into a fan of feminist science fiction (Tiptree and Le Guin I would understand later, when I got older) when it was still hard for me to see beyond the realities of being fourteen in a school district that taught (as required by law) that "a mutually faithful monogamous heterosexual relationship in the context of marriage is the best lifelong means of avoiding diseases transmitted by sexual contact, including Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)" and wasn't technically allowed to mention the sexuality of Arthur Rimbaud or Walt Whitman. I loved her criticism. One of her lessons that stays with me is how much being able to see, and read, and make critical judgments happen within the context of the patriarchy.
(And on that note, I will relink a visit from the Joanna Russ fairy).
And as she wrote in How to Suppress Women's Writing (long excerpt available there),
She could be very funny when she was angry.
Thank you, Joanna Russ. I wish I could've said it in person.
Does "natural lemon flavored water beverage with other natural flavors" contain artificial sweeteners?
a) yes
b) no
c) THANKS, [expletive deleted], I HAVE A MIGRAINE NOW.
--
Okay, I had to get that off my chest. But really, I'm so sad that Joanna Russ has died. With a single short story she turned me into a fan of feminist science fiction (Tiptree and Le Guin I would understand later, when I got older) when it was still hard for me to see beyond the realities of being fourteen in a school district that taught (as required by law) that "a mutually faithful monogamous heterosexual relationship in the context of marriage is the best lifelong means of avoiding diseases transmitted by sexual contact, including Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)" and wasn't technically allowed to mention the sexuality of Arthur Rimbaud or Walt Whitman. I loved her criticism. One of her lessons that stays with me is how much being able to see, and read, and make critical judgments happen within the context of the patriarchy.
(And on that note, I will relink a visit from the Joanna Russ fairy).
And as she wrote in How to Suppress Women's Writing (long excerpt available there),
In a nominally egalitarian society the ideal situation (socially speaking) is one in which the members of the "wrong" groups have the freedom to engage in literature (or equally significant activities) and yet do not do so, thus proving that they can't. But, alas, give them the least real freedom and they will do it. The trick thus becomes to make the freedom as nominal a freedom as possible and then—since some of the so-and-so's will do it anyway—develop various strategies for ignoring, condemning, or belittling the artistic works that result. If properly done, these strategies result in a social situation in which the "wrong" people are (supposedly) free to commit literature, art, or whatever, but very few do, and those who do (it seems) do it badly, so we can all go home to lunch.
She could be very funny when she was angry.
Thank you, Joanna Russ. I wish I could've said it in person.