"The Female Man"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how "The Female Man" by Joanna Russ uses the techniques of science fiction to illuminate truths and to ask questions about the relationships of men and women in contemporary life and how the book chronicles the lives of four different women, in four different parallel universes. It looks at how these different women exemplify the different ways that women in real history have dealt with the differences between the sexes and female oppression, in terms of political conflicts and their internal psychology.

From the Paper:

"The novel underlines the fact that Janet's dislike engage in violence is not because of sexual frustration because Janet enjoys sexual relationship with women, including the married Earth woman Laura, as well as having a wife of Whileaway. Instead, Janet's dissatisfaction with Jael's proposition comes from her ability to question the value of using violence and adopting 'male' norms. From personal experience, Janet knows this does not bring happiness. Because she still exists in a polarized society, Joanna can recall wanting to 'be' (and not just have a crush on) Humphrey Bogart and Douglas Fairbanks, and to be loud, ambitious, and powerful. This illustrates that ironically, living in an all-female and undivided society might be why Janet is the most disdainful of violence of all four women at the end of the novel. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Russ, Joanna. The Female Man. New York: Beacon Press, 1986.

More papers on "The Female Man":

• Book Review # 4116 : "The Female Quixote"
• Essay # 46259 : "The Female Vampire as Sexual Deviants"
• Persuasive Essay # 106480 : "The Female Body"

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