Henderson, Zenna | Farah Mendlesohn (essay date 1994)
Farah Mendlesohn (essay date 1994)
SOURCE: "Gender, Power, and Conflict Resolution: Subcommittee' by Zenna Henderson," in Extrapolation, Vol. 35, No. 2, Summer, 1994, pp. 120-29.
[In the essay below, Mendlesohn examines gender roles and power structures in "Subcommittee," placing the story in the context of the time it was written, before the rise of feminism.]
Studies of gender and science fiction have remained rare despite the recent boom in gender studies. The principal reason for this is that gender remains for many a euphemism for "women." Women are gendered; men are not. The directions feminist science fiction criticism has taken have mitigated against the exploration of gender, either as an issue or a tool. Feminist criticism has instead explored a number of alternative paths, beginning from the "women in . . ." approach and the consideration of the portrayal of women in sf and moving on, in understandable desperation, to the...
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