Heinlein Friday: Gender and Change
Or, for short,
Hf: Delta(XX/XY).
It's been a while since I've blogged about Heinlein on a Friday; I hope I haven't forgotten how.
This week's installment was not inspired by, but is nevertheless indebted to the well-written portions of the Wikipedia entry on Robert Heinlein that deal with Sexual Liberation. The wikipedians seem to care deeply enough about RAH to have written a lot about him - there's a whole category, with 17 articles, including the main one.
Onwards!
Generally speaking, when a human being meets another human being, faster than conscious thought a number of evaluations and classifications occur - or are attempted. Most of the time, the eyes and brain and ears spend a fair amount of time on the face and voice (to be able to identify the other), and other time is apportioned for interesting inputs. If something about the other individual is ambiguous or unexpected as to some important characteristic, the result could be surprise, confusion, or xenophobia, among other possibilities.
Not every interaction necessarily involves gender (consider online chats, or certain brief interactions in person - say, with other drivers on the road), but studies have shown that people (or, the people studied, which I believe has been a broad if not representative cross-section of humanity) make a snap judgment (when possible) about gender very, very quickly. Even if there is no need to identify potential mates or threats/rivals, it can be uncomfortable to perceive what seems to be a basic attribute in a state of flux.
Gender in Heinlein is not necessarily a straightforward attribute. As the Wikipedia article above points out,
Sometimes the ambiguity isn't too surprising: young children lack secondary sex characteristics, and barring other markers (blue vs. pink, or long hair or gendered clothing or names) it may be entirely unclear what flavor someone is.
Such is the social predicament Kip faces in Have Space Suit, Will Travel. His new companion aboard the ship he has been Kipnapped onto is young, clearly. Kip observes a rag doll, short hair, ambiguous clothing and dirty tennis shoes, a high voice, and an age of about 10 years. The doll makes him correct his instantaneous impression that it is a male; he thinks to himself that the other is still "the age when the difference doesn't show much" and the name the other offers is "Peewee," which is descriptive but not helpful to Kip.
Although Kip tentatively assumes Peewee is a girl, he is unable to rely on his conclusion and must ask directly, producing a look of disgust from her and a comment that, "... in another five years I expect to be quite a dish- you'll probably beg me for every dance." (p.45, 1988). A dish is presumably an attractive female - or to use one of RAH's favorite polysyllabic words, one of greater than average pulchritudinousness. (His favorite of all is even longer.)
Kip's trouble is based on Peewee's tomboy clothes and haircut, small size, and lack of development due to her young age (11 going on 12). But in other situations gender might be not merely difficult to ascertain but arbitrary.
Male or female? Why, which would you like me to be?
That's not a quote but rather an implication, based on a very flexible (and not human...) character.
The star of (my favorite) The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, the HOLMES IV - "(High-Optional, Logical, Multi-Optional Supervisor, Mark IV, Mod. L)" - is very, very flexible. He can use a voder to "play" human speech, and how he chooses to sound is limited only by his skill and by the suggestions he received.
Mike, lacking a body (with associated glands and organs) is able to be whatever his listeners wish. He can not only parrot but imitate, with immense sophistication, any sound effects (including background noises, or simulated conversations with third persons) he wants. Talking with him by phone means that anything could be on the other end - but for the narrator/protagonist, Manny, he is always Mike. For Wyoh, however, who is uncomfortable discussing personal medical details of her own life in front of her new friend Manny, Mike is able to change his voice - and more.
Mike does not merely shift his voder up an octave or two. He also takes on a French accent, and becomes Michelle, a woman as much as Mike is a man. Manny briefly ponders if this means Mike has a "split personality," but then drops the thought, presumably realizing that Mike is smart enough to be as many different things as he wants.
What if the character has a gender, but not the one people think?
It's a surprise, involving a supposedly immutable characteristic. I'm thinking of it as a Jack/Jill-in-the-box motif, or just "Jack(?) in the box".
Jack(?) in the box
If you haven't read all the juveniles (the books Heinlein wrote with an audience of children in mind) then this section would spoil some surprises. So if books written in 1949 (Red Planet) and 1954 (The Star Beast) are still new to you, you've already read too far. Stop it, and go read them. Well, read Red Planet anyway; I always liked that one better. Of course, I read it early on, one of my first three Heinleins; Star Beast I came to after having nearly completed my collection.
"Back to the lecture at hand." (No link to the lyrics of Nuthin But A G Thang, they're a bit dirty. Google it yourself.)
Two aliens (the title character of one book, and a primary feature and protagonist in the other) are thought of as males and then are revealed to be female.
Willis, the Martian Bouncer, a basketball-sized super-parrot (recording and playback) spheroid lifeform (which are in fact the same species as the full-size Martians, which they metamorphose into), has long been thought of by his "owner" Jim as a boy. But the last words in the novel are,
Similarly, the Star Beast's enormous (eponymous) omnivorous alien, Lummox, turns out to be a long-lost princess of a warlike alien race. In the second paragraph of the book, the third-person (apparently not infallibly) omniscient voice describing Lummox says that "Lummox could hold his breath (emphasis added). But the book ends,
Hf: Delta(XX/XY).
It's been a while since I've blogged about Heinlein on a Friday; I hope I haven't forgotten how.
This week's installment was not inspired by, but is nevertheless indebted to the well-written portions of the Wikipedia entry on Robert Heinlein that deal with Sexual Liberation. The wikipedians seem to care deeply enough about RAH to have written a lot about him - there's a whole category, with 17 articles, including the main one.
Onwards!
Generally speaking, when a human being meets another human being, faster than conscious thought a number of evaluations and classifications occur - or are attempted. Most of the time, the eyes and brain and ears spend a fair amount of time on the face and voice (to be able to identify the other), and other time is apportioned for interesting inputs. If something about the other individual is ambiguous or unexpected as to some important characteristic, the result could be surprise, confusion, or xenophobia, among other possibilities.
Not every interaction necessarily involves gender (consider online chats, or certain brief interactions in person - say, with other drivers on the road), but studies have shown that people (or, the people studied, which I believe has been a broad if not representative cross-section of humanity) make a snap judgment (when possible) about gender very, very quickly. Even if there is no need to identify potential mates or threats/rivals, it can be uncomfortable to perceive what seems to be a basic attribute in a state of flux.
Gender in Heinlein is not necessarily a straightforward attribute. As the Wikipedia article above points out,
Beyond This Horizon (1942) cleverly subverts traditional gender roles in a scene in which the protagonist demonstrates his archaic gunpowder gun for his friend and discusses how useful it would be in dueling — after which the discussion turns to the shade of his nail polish. "'All You Zombies—'" (1959) is the story of a person who undergoes a sex change operation, goes back in time, has sex with herself, and gives birth to herself.
Sometimes the ambiguity isn't too surprising: young children lack secondary sex characteristics, and barring other markers (blue vs. pink, or long hair or gendered clothing or names) it may be entirely unclear what flavor someone is.
Such is the social predicament Kip faces in Have Space Suit, Will Travel. His new companion aboard the ship he has been Kipnapped onto is young, clearly. Kip observes a rag doll, short hair, ambiguous clothing and dirty tennis shoes, a high voice, and an age of about 10 years. The doll makes him correct his instantaneous impression that it is a male; he thinks to himself that the other is still "the age when the difference doesn't show much" and the name the other offers is "Peewee," which is descriptive but not helpful to Kip.
Although Kip tentatively assumes Peewee is a girl, he is unable to rely on his conclusion and must ask directly, producing a look of disgust from her and a comment that, "... in another five years I expect to be quite a dish- you'll probably beg me for every dance." (p.45, 1988). A dish is presumably an attractive female - or to use one of RAH's favorite polysyllabic words, one of greater than average pulchritudinousness. (His favorite of all is even longer.)
Kip's trouble is based on Peewee's tomboy clothes and haircut, small size, and lack of development due to her young age (11 going on 12). But in other situations gender might be not merely difficult to ascertain but arbitrary.
Male or female? Why, which would you like me to be?
That's not a quote but rather an implication, based on a very flexible (and not human...) character.
The star of (my favorite) The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, the HOLMES IV - "(High-Optional, Logical, Multi-Optional Supervisor, Mark IV, Mod. L)" - is very, very flexible. He can use a voder to "play" human speech, and how he chooses to sound is limited only by his skill and by the suggestions he received.
Mike, lacking a body (with associated glands and organs) is able to be whatever his listeners wish. He can not only parrot but imitate, with immense sophistication, any sound effects (including background noises, or simulated conversations with third persons) he wants. Talking with him by phone means that anything could be on the other end - but for the narrator/protagonist, Manny, he is always Mike. For Wyoh, however, who is uncomfortable discussing personal medical details of her own life in front of her new friend Manny, Mike is able to change his voice - and more.
Mike does not merely shift his voder up an octave or two. He also takes on a French accent, and becomes Michelle, a woman as much as Mike is a man. Manny briefly ponders if this means Mike has a "split personality," but then drops the thought, presumably realizing that Mike is smart enough to be as many different things as he wants.
What if the character has a gender, but not the one people think?
It's a surprise, involving a supposedly immutable characteristic. I'm thinking of it as a Jack/Jill-in-the-box motif, or just "Jack(?) in the box".
Jack(?) in the box
If you haven't read all the juveniles (the books Heinlein wrote with an audience of children in mind) then this section would spoil some surprises. So if books written in 1949 (Red Planet) and 1954 (The Star Beast) are still new to you, you've already read too far. Stop it, and go read them. Well, read Red Planet anyway; I always liked that one better. Of course, I read it early on, one of my first three Heinleins; Star Beast I came to after having nearly completed my collection.
"Back to the lecture at hand." (No link to the lyrics of Nuthin But A G Thang, they're a bit dirty. Google it yourself.)
Two aliens (the title character of one book, and a primary feature and protagonist in the other) are thought of as males and then are revealed to be female.
Willis, the Martian Bouncer, a basketball-sized super-parrot (recording and playback) spheroid lifeform (which are in fact the same species as the full-size Martians, which they metamorphose into), has long been thought of by his "owner" Jim as a boy. But the last words in the novel are,
"Willis fine boy!" she insisted.
Similarly, the Star Beast's enormous (eponymous) omnivorous alien, Lummox, turns out to be a long-lost princess of a warlike alien race. In the second paragraph of the book, the third-person (apparently not infallibly) omniscient voice describing Lummox says that "Lummox could hold his breath (emphasis added). But the book ends,
..."The Lummox" contentedly took her pair of pets aboard the imperial yacht. Surprise! It's a girl! And a royal one at that.
One last aspect I want to consider is when gender is fixed but orientation and attraction are not. In the (late period) Time Enough for Love, two technicians who have been involved in the rejuvenation of the Senior, Lazarus Long, are talking after they leave the patient. Still completely covered and masked, voices presumably not gendered (disguised, perhaps?), they speak of the work, and then the conversation turns personal. One propositions the other, politely, and produces this exchange:"Colleague, what sex are you?"
"Does it matter?"
"I suppose not. I accept."
[...intervening exposition and dialogue...]
"You're male! I'm surprised. But pleased."
"And you're female. And I am very pleased."
See pp.36-40, 1988.
All of the above may seem like cheating.
Nobody expects a child to be strongly gendered - except maybe parents and judges at a child beauty pageant, or the kind of people who cover a male baby's room with race cars, fire trucks, and cowboys, and a female's with princesses, rainbows and fairies. Computers are generally inherently neuter, unless I missed something. People wearing masks or speaking not-face-to-face (like via computers!) aren't necessarily what one might assume by words alone, and orientation can be flexible (as Heinlein posits in his advanced society). And an alien could be anything at all, including a hermaphrodite, like giant clams, or even something stranger than we have on Earth.
But humans can possess, not merely ambiguous, but actually mutable gender. (I wonder if the recent collaboration could have been called "Mutable Star"... nah, that would lose the poetic and astronomical overtones.)
The "All You Zombies" reference in the Wikipedia article back at the top is a good one; I hadn't remembered it. But in another work, gender is even more central to the entire plot.
I Will Fear No Evil is the story of Johann Sebastian Bach Smith, whose (very!) aged brain is transplanted into the (spoiler) body of his young female secretary after her violent death. What follows is a person recovering from great trauma, from major (the most major possible, one might think) surgery, and learning how to control and function in a new body, as an adult. More, to function as a female when all the previous years of life had been as a male.
IWFNE is a tremendous science fictional illustration of sex change under very unusual circumstances, not like intersex persons who may transition deliberately or after years of preparation, but rather as a fish-out-of-water thought experiment. What could be more abrupt than to plunk a man down in the body of a woman (or vice versa)?
As an afterthought:
There is also discussion in Time Enough for Love, mentioned above, about the possibilities of gender change. Lazarus, bored and wishing for new experiences, is asked whether he would like to become female (pp.102-105), which opens up both other possibilities and leads the conversation elsewhere. Meanwhile, computers wish to become meat people, by growing human bodies to transfer their consciousness into. Lazarus passes on becoming a woman, but that chance is one that the computer person wishes for, in order to be a woman (see pp.234-5). See also The Cat Who Walks Through Walls for later developments in the computer --> human being transition.All Related Posts (on one page) | Some Related Posts:
Posted by Eh Nonymous on
Friday April 6, 2007 at 7:32am
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