I recently shared my list of 30 books that I plan to read the year I turn 30 (this year). The Female Man is the first book off that list that I have chosen to read for the challenge. Heralded as a landmark piece of feminist science fiction, this book has been on and off my radar for a few years. I am however a bit conflicted in my thoughts on it.

Four women living in parallel worlds, each with a different gender landscape. When they begin to travel to each other’s worlds each woman’s preconceptions on gender and what it means to be a woman are challenged.

Acclaimed as one of the essential works of science fiction and an influence on William Gibson, THE FEMALE MAN takes a look at gender roles in society and remains a work of great power.

This is a strange one for me. Like I previously mentioned, I have had this one on my shelves for a bit now and I’ve always thought I would get to it. Now that I have, I can’t say that the book or the point it’s trying to make has aged very well? Where similar works I’ve read and loved like Le Guin’s excellent ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ may have parts that time was equally visibly aged, but they still tend to stand up. My feelings on The Female Man is that while it has a clear point to make on gender and how women are/were treated, I feel like the approach is extreme.

We start the book off with the introduction of the main three of the four women. In first person we have Janet Evason Belin from Whileaway detailing how she was born. Then we have Jeannine Dadier in her Great Depression Earth, debating the state of her life. After that chiming in is the rarely named Joanna in the closest version of our Earth as she sees both women at a cocktail lounge to discuss why they are in each others worlds. The main thing I did enjoy is how distinct Russ has made each of the women, especially in voice. Even where more than one is using first person it still has all of them clearly defined so you know who you are listening to, especially when you have Joanna for example who doesn’t push herself as forward into the narrative until she gains some confidence.

The part that let me really unsatisfied was I wasn’t quite sure what specific point this book is trying to make. Like on a basic level yes it’s talking about women throughout time (and space in this case) are treated and how it needs to be stopped. But where it starts to apply that, it kind of falls down. For example, there is a point made that on Whileaway age gaps in relationships, sexual ones specifically, is a huge taboo. We go on to see Janet really struggle with this when she is approached by Laura, a young woman. I thought originally it would show yes she struggles with the feelings and maybe make a point on acting on them being the thing that defines this as a bad decision. And no, they still have sex. Janet learns nothing and now the story has her clearly marked as a deviant by her worlds laws.

One of the foundations of intersectional feminism I always come back to is it’s a battle for everyone to remain equal and attain the rights they deserve. So obviously, that includes men and the way patriarchy affects them. I feel this book was written when that wasn’t a huge consideration since the more extreme elements do focus on sorting out men in these worlds. Specifically in Alice Jael Reasoner’s world when she comes into the story. There may be more that could have been parsed out, even in a satirical way but the book itself is a bit short to do that. The lack of a real plot stops that being an option as well. As far as I can see, this hasn’t stuck the landing over time.

On the whole, this wasn’t a book for me. It was hard not to make the comparison to Ursula K. Le Guin’s work since both she and Russ are well known for ground made in science fiction. This book is equally important still for that reason but for me misses a lot of potential. Thanks for checking in guys! Happy reading!