Comments on THE GALAXY EXPRESS: Parallel Universe: It's A Woman's World by Jess Gr...

I like that... A society where gender doesn't ...

2010-08-02T13:29:07.294-04:00

I like that... A society where gender doesn't count against you. I would love to live in that kind of society.

I loved Beyond the Rain and Beyond the Shadows.

As for female dominant worlds... not sure I would like them any more than I like male dominant worlds. I want a true world where balance exists and its just controlled by the one who is smarter ---hmmm in that case it would be a female dominant world right?

I don't think I want to live in a society wher...

2010-08-01T18:55:05.990-04:00

I don't think I want to live in a society where gender doesn't matter at all, just one where it doesn't count against you. That would be nice.

Um, you missed my point, but, alas, the burden was...

2010-07-31T16:45:33.065-04:00

Um, you missed my point, but, alas, the burden was on me to make it clear.

The point was Elizabeth I thought outside the box of the culture and prevalent religion of the time.

The result of Elizabeth thinking outside that box was a long and glorious reign.

The result of Mary's inability to think outside the box led ultimately to her beheading.

History has taught me that it's only leaders who are able to think outside the box who make lasting change.

Indeed, it would be great if gender didn't matter at all.

"And Mary got the axe." Not because she...

2010-07-28T23:46:43.906-04:00

"And Mary got the axe."

Not because she was married, though. Trying to usurp and murder the reigning monarch is going to get you killed no matter what gender you are.

I have no great faith that a woman run society would be better or different than what we have now. I'd like a society where gender didn't matter - now that's a really revolutionary idea.

I have one female-dominant culture in a space oper...

2010-07-28T22:12:16.546-04:00

I have one female-dominant culture in a space opera created in my head, but not yet written down. In it, women were oppressed for thousands of years, but the male population went down due to incessant warfare. Women were needed in jobs and we're typically put in passive ones, like, um, genetics. A group got together and worked out how to sterilize the aggressive males. The females took over in a generation after the aggressive males all died out. But, Marilynn is right. It did have a very negative result.

People may be interested in their own freedom, but once they conquer they tend to get power-hungry and strip away the freedoms of those under them. In fact, I think only George Washington managed to resist being proclaimed king.

So, don't overlook the general human experience for inspiration too. Effecting real and lasting change requires a lot more than simple butt-kicking.

Consider cousins Mary, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I. Both were female rulers. Queen Elizabeth was able to *think outside the box* of her culture and religion and *not marry* because she knew she would lose power when she did. She ruled over sixty years, I think it was. And Mary got the axe.

Nothing prepared me better for world-building the anthropology class I took in college.
;)

One thing an author should consider when creating ...

2010-07-28T14:32:55.293-04:00

One thing an author should consider when creating a female-dominated society is why woman are dominant and why the men aren't.

We would hope that women would be smarter than men in creating a society, but if the reason they are dominant is negative, then the society would be poisoned as any current or historical society has been when women or another race is subservient.

When I created the planet Arden in STAR-CROSSED where men have become little more than sex slaves, I really wanted to create positive aspects of that world where sisterhood was all powerful, but I realized the cancer of slavery would corrode that sisterhood and only a very few would fight a system so totally engrained.

I like the Amazonian culture protrayed in the Wond...

2010-07-28T14:09:04.404-04:00

I like the Amazonian culture protrayed in the Wonder Woman comics -- they're peace, love and beauty people, but they're trained for war and kick butt better than the boys when it's called for.

I'm with you -- the fun of being a SF author (which includes SFR) is that you can make the world/s you want to see, play around with the different political structures, and so on. (Which you do really well, I must say.)

Oh, you are so right! Anyone who sees women all li...

2010-07-28T10:06:58.051-04:00

Oh, you are so right! Anyone who sees women all living happily together in peace and harmony never spent time in a girls' locker room. Or just watch the teasers for one of the "Housewives of_____" if you think we get better when we grow up. LOL

And eventually those gals will have to give up the leather. Hot flashes and leather just don't work well together. lol

I do think that women combine efforts, they can rock the house/country/world, but when we go after each other? Oh my.