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Jun. 23rd, 2010 03:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sethrakVia a comment in copperbadge, who is checking on his Canadian flist after an earthquake, I came across a poll in [Bad username or unknown identity: james_nicoll>'s LJ, inquiring if Heinlein's Young Adult novels are too archaic for today's youth.
::rubs temples::
There's a touch of not-quite-flaming about whether comments about the total unsuitability of some of the non-YA work are relevant to the poll. Comments about how totes awesome Heinlein's women are, and how dare anyone say otherwise. Comments about how Heinlein Women aren't <i>always</i> sexually available. Snark about how, yeah, they seem to at least draw the line at men who don't bathe enough. Comments touting <i>Have Spacesuit, Will Travel</i> as totally age-appropriate and not at all out of date, despite the scenes at a ice cream soda shop.
Funny how nobody thus far seems to object to Peewee's father strongly hinting he sees Kip as an excellent suitor for his daughter, and regarding their age differences as desirable, rather than a reason to run young Kip and anyone his age who shows an interest in barely-pubescent Peewee off the property, with the aid of the Sheriff if need be.
Doesn't appear to be mentioned in the Wikipedia article either, even though I know damn well that ]I Will Fear No Evil has women as nude art models, fracking stenographers, or nurses, but never doctors, lawyers, or business executives. Some of that can be attributed to author bias, and some to the time in which the books were written.
It's everything to do with the hypersexualization of women, the creepy factor even in the YA novels about age-disparate relationships, and the way women are expected to be either content in the home or stay in the 'pink collar ghetto'. I'm sure other feminists have ranted at greater length on these and other issues in Heinlein.
::sigh:: I'm going to go hug my boys, drink a soda, and try to brainstorm search terms that will net me good books to read the boys so they grow up smart enough and open-minded enough not to fall for that kind of crap when they encounter it independently.
copperbadge, who is checking on his Canadian flist after an earthquake, I came across a poll in [Bad username or unknown identity: james_nicoll>'s LJ, inquiring if Heinlein's Young Adult novels are too archaic for today's youth.
::rubs temples::
There's a touch of not-quite-flaming about whether comments about the total unsuitability of some of the non-YA work are relevant to the poll. Comments about how totes awesome Heinlein's women are, and how dare anyone say otherwise. Comments about how Heinlein Women aren't <i>always</i> sexually available. Snark about how, yeah, they seem to at least draw the line at men who don't bathe enough. Comments touting <i>Have Spacesuit, Will Travel</i> as totally age-appropriate and not at all out of date, despite the scenes at a ice cream soda shop.
Funny how nobody thus far seems to object to Peewee's father strongly hinting he sees Kip as an excellent suitor for his daughter, and regarding their age differences as desirable, rather than a reason to run young Kip and anyone his age who shows an interest in barely-pubescent Peewee off the property, with the aid of the Sheriff if need be.
Doesn't appear to be mentioned in the Wikipedia article either, even though I know damn well that ]I Will Fear No Evil has women as nude art models, fracking stenographers, or nurses, but never doctors, lawyers, or business executives. Some of that can be attributed to author bias, and some to the time in which the books were written.It's everything to do with the hypersexualization of women, the creepy factor even in the YA novels about age-disparate relationships, and the way women are expected to be either content in the home or stay in the 'pink collar ghetto'. I'm sure other feminists have ranted at greater length on these and other issues in Heinlein.
::sigh:: I'm going to go hug my boys, drink a soda, and try to brainstorm search terms that will net me good books to read the boys so they grow up smart enough and open-minded enough not to fall for that kind of crap when they encounter it independently.
