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A review by mathew
The Female Man by Joanna Russ
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Feminist science fiction from the 1970s. It'll be dated, because things are so different now, right? Well, not so much. At one point a man mansplains his vision of feminist equality to a woman, before smoothly continuing that of course biological differences mean that men and women won't actually have the same jobs - but they'll still be equals, at least notionally.
The title comes from one of the characters' observations that if "man" is the term for all humans, as people used to insist in the 70s and 80s, then a woman is by definition a man.
One detail I really appreciated is that the author breaks the fourth wall to critique the inevitable patronizing and dismissive comments that she knew the book would get. In fact, ultimately it's a book that practically begs to be laughable and irrelevant — but sadly, it still isn't.
The title comes from one of the characters' observations that if "man" is the term for all humans, as people used to insist in the 70s and 80s, then a woman is by definition a man.
One detail I really appreciated is that the author breaks the fourth wall to critique the inevitable patronizing and dismissive comments that she knew the book would get. In fact, ultimately it's a book that practically begs to be laughable and irrelevant — but sadly, it still isn't.