Document Type
Review Essay
Abstract
[First paragraph]
The premise of Decoding Gender in Science Fiction is, as Brian Attebery states in the first chapter, that “Science fiction is a useful tool for investigating habits of thought, including conceptions of gender. Gender, in turn, offers an interesting glimpse into some of the unacknowledged messages that permeate science fiction” (1). What we have in Decoding Gender in Science Fiction is the most comprehensive analysis of gender tropes in Science Fiction from its origins in Gothic literature to today. Attebery states in his introduction that he was surprised to find there was no historical study of the development of sex and gender in SF. While there certainly are reams of critical articles and books on sex and gender in SF (the work of Marleen S. Barr, Robin Roberts, and Ximena Gallardo C. immediately come to mind), Attebery is correct in the sense that there has not been a systematic, chronological introduction into the changing representations of gender roles in SF that covers all the major periods. This was a vital omission in SF studies particularly is SF is to continue being read and taught as a serious literature and, perhaps, finally help lift genre fiction out of the literary ghetto.
Repository Citation
Smith, C. J.. "On Brian Attebery’s Decoding Gender in Science Fiction." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture vol. 5, no. 4, 2005, pp. 1–3. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/reconstruction/vol5/iss4/11