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October 04, 2002
Passing (2)
Only found out a couple years back that DC Fontana, writer of the acclaimed "The City on the Edge of Forever" episode of the original Star Trek series, was, well:
When Star Trek; The Original Series ended, it left a gaping hole for most of the fans. One of Star Trek’s (The Original Series’) writers decided to take a chance, ". . . in early 1973, Star Trek (The Original Series) reappeared on the small screen in animated form. The show, produced by Dorothy Fontana, lasted two seasons, and drew praise from critics" (Nimoy 150). During the production of the live action version of The Original Series Nimoy felt that Mrs. Fontana "gave us, by far, the best stories where we interacted with women who were fully developed characters in their own right". He continues, stating that ". . . Star Trek was a product of the sexist sixties, and that was sometimes reflected in the writing, where women characters were often treated as stereotypical love interests or altogether ignored. Dorothy’s scenes not only avoided such stereotypes, but were dramatically intriguing" (Nimoy 118). "Women writers feel able to play around with archetypes and stereotypes, male writers are more likely to avoid them for fear of being misunderstood and alienating much of their likely audience" (Women as Portrayed in Science Fiction). "Like all of Dorothy’s scripts, [The Enterprise Incident] had an edge to it, an adult level of complication, and social commentary. The character’s lives were being affected, their ethics violated, even their spirituality touched" (Nimoy 118). With scripts of this standard, Mrs. Fontana went on to write nine episodes for The Original Series and five for The Next Generation . One of The Next Generation episodes was the pilot, Encounter At Far Point, which she co-wrote with Roddenberry (Nemecek). "In 1972 Harlan Ellison stated (in his intro to ‘When it Changed’ by Joanna Russ in Again, Dangerous Visions [anth 1972]) that ‘the best writers in [science fiction] today are the women’" (Women SF Writers).
(Ellison quote deliberately left in; I know what I'm doing. Trying to trigger another heart attack.)
From Dorothy Fontana, Women’s Roles, Feminism, Science Fiction, and their effects. As you can tell from the title, it's an academic work. Don't let that stop you, though.
That's not really an example of passing, of course; not her fault I just assumed she was a guy. I'm sure most guys do.
Now, James Tiptree?
Before 1977, no-one in the science fiction world knew anything about James Tiptree, Jr, although there was a lot of speculation. On one occasion, fans staked out his post office box in the hopes of revealing the true identity of their hero. They were sure he was some daredevil spy, even though he referred to himself as "Uncle Tip" in letters. Then came the revelation that 'he' was really 'she' - Alice Sheldon, a retired clinical psychologist, CIA photo intelligence agent, army officer and artist. She was born Alice Hastings Bradley, trailled through Africa as a child with her writer mother and lawyer father hunting big game; married twice to become a Davey and then a Sheldon; and then through her science fiction writing used the nom de plume James Tiptree, Jr.
That's passing.
Article pulled from the Archive, from geekgirl, neither of which I've mined recently, so shut up.
It's not possible to reasonably discuss passing without also bringing up outing. These reactions, from Printed Matter -- Alice Sheldon or James Tiptree, Jr., are (arche)typical:
"I don't think I have ever been so completely surprised in my life - or so happily," wrote [author Ursula] Le Guin describing how she felt upon learning that Tiptree was a woman.For many years, science fiction was a male genre, featuring boys and toys: war, space, rockets, technology, uniforms, military issues and violence.
Even sci fi writer Michael Bishop admits being a little miffed when he found out Tiptree's true identity, as he had claimed "him" as an ally - proof that men could write about women's issues with sensitivity and verve.
Well, Ursula's is, anyway. The other reaction, or debate, is internal to the person passing/being outed, juggling serving as a role model for the latter instance, or deriving the benefits of the assumed role in the former.
Perhaps I shouldn't read academic works. . .
Want to know more? There's a site for The James Tiptree, Jr. Award, "an annual literary prize for science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender." Is where I found the original, now-broke, link to the geekgirl article, and the one from Printed Matter.
And if you think I'm obviously trolling for comments from someone with a Trek-themed site, and who recently wrote:
When did someone decide that "gender" meant "woman", anyway? Does that mean that I don't have a gender?
Well, duh.
Really, I gots no problem with conservatives/libertarians posting here. I just give 'em the bum's rush when they're not saying anything remotely interesting or original. Which, y'know, is most of the time.
Posted by Aaron at October 4, 2002 12:21 PM
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