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Review of Feminist Philosophy and Science Fiction Little, Judith A., ed. Feminist Philosophy and Science Fiction: Utopias and Dystopias. New York: Prometheus, 2008. 411 pp. ISBN: 9781591024149. $27.98 USD.
Judith A. Little describes her anthology's two main organizational themes in this manner: "[P]art I, 'Human Nature and Reality'" concentrates on the question "is there an intrinsic difference between males and females?" . . . (Why does "males" appear before "females" in a feminist anthology?) Part II, "Dystopias and Utopias," inspects dystopian and Utopian visions. Fiction authored by Margaret Atwood, Octavia E. Butler, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Suzy McKee Chamas, Carol Emshwiller, Karen Joy Fowler, Molly Gloss, Leona Gom, Lois Gould, Ursula K. Le Guin, Judith Merril, C. L. Moore, Pat Murphy, Joanna Russ, Pamela Sargent, James Tiptree Jr., and John Varley comprises the collection. Making feminist science fiction available to students is most certainly a wonderful pedagogical objective.
The structure and apparatus readers encounter within Feminist Philosophy and Science Fiction, however, mitigates against the success of this objective. Little's own organizational description exemplifies this point. Questioning the intrinsic difference between "males and females" is a vacuous enterprise: the answers of course depend upon the infinite variables comprising how individuals function within myriad circumstances. Gender...