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stierwood 's review for:
The Female Man
by Joanna Russ
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
WEIRD!!!!! A bit second wavey for my taste (didn’t love the way trans women were portrayed, nor the random comparisons of gender inequality to slavery (Black women do exist, Ms Russ, and this showed a preeeetty white perspective on feminism). )
These things aside, I did like how strange it was. I love a weird ass book. Vibes on vibes on vibes, so much went over my head, it’s obvious Russ is a creative genius.
Was intrigued by this book because it’s so often compared with The Left Hand of Darkness, and after reading it, I don’t think it quite did what the left hand of darkness did. Joanna Russ thought the left hand of darkness didn’t go far enough, but her response to it is entirely rooted in binary with a crazy weird portrayal of trans women. So idk about all that. I seems that she was much more trapped in the muck of 1960s politics than Le Guin was, but she thought she ate with all that “le guin didn’t go far enough— we need a book about a female planet” stuff. So like, le guin was in the year 3000 and Russ thought she was too but really was still in the year 1960.
These things aside, I did like how strange it was. I love a weird ass book. Vibes on vibes on vibes, so much went over my head, it’s obvious Russ is a creative genius.
Was intrigued by this book because it’s so often compared with The Left Hand of Darkness, and after reading it, I don’t think it quite did what the left hand of darkness did. Joanna Russ thought the left hand of darkness didn’t go far enough, but her response to it is entirely rooted in binary with a crazy weird portrayal of trans women. So idk about all that. I seems that she was much more trapped in the muck of 1960s politics than Le Guin was, but she thought she ate with all that “le guin didn’t go far enough— we need a book about a female planet” stuff. So like, le guin was in the year 3000 and Russ thought she was too but really was still in the year 1960.