The first book of the series is definitely more liberal in attitude, as Kris forges her place among the colonists, and a peeping tom gets thrown in the stocks for a few days.
I also find it worth pondering whether feminism even is meaningful in the face of potential species extinction. In this series the human species is at war with the Catteni, Earth is occupied and attempting guerrilla warfare, and the entire populations of around 10 major Earth cities have been transported off the Earth as slaves. The colonists are a ragtag bunch of rebels who have been thrown onto an uninhabited world and could end up being the only surviving humans in the universe. In the face of such a situation, maintaining a viable population is crucial for the survival of the species, and individual preferences MUST make way for that imperative.
I also liked Pern a lot when I read it in elementary and middle school, and I've enjoyed other more recent books in the series that I've occasionally read since. I really do ponder how I'd receive it if I started over now though.
I'm curious what you mean when you say "rejecting gender." I feel gender is a useful descriptive tool, but it is not prescriptive. It is also limited and flawed, as all descriptions and models are, but like all models we can use it for as far as it works, and then look at where it breaks down to learn even more.
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Date: 2009-06-08 11:59 pm (UTC)I also find it worth pondering whether feminism even is meaningful in the face of potential species extinction. In this series the human species is at war with the Catteni, Earth is occupied and attempting guerrilla warfare, and the entire populations of around 10 major Earth cities have been transported off the Earth as slaves. The colonists are a ragtag bunch of rebels who have been thrown onto an uninhabited world and could end up being the only surviving humans in the universe. In the face of such a situation, maintaining a viable population is crucial for the survival of the species, and individual preferences MUST make way for that imperative.
I also liked Pern a lot when I read it in elementary and middle school, and I've enjoyed other more recent books in the series that I've occasionally read since. I really do ponder how I'd receive it if I started over now though.
I'm curious what you mean when you say "rejecting gender." I feel gender is a useful descriptive tool, but it is not prescriptive. It is also limited and flawed, as all descriptions and models are, but like all models we can use it for as far as it works, and then look at where it breaks down to learn even more.