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Not Suitable for K-12Thanks to of David-Glen Anderson for permission to include on the
ORU
To: rff@egroups.com From: "David-Glenn Anderson" <rffutahe@juno.com> Mailing-List: list rff@egroups.com; contact rff-owner@egroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list rff@egroups.com Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 20:55:10 -0000 Reply-To: rff@egroups.com Subject: [rff] Re: Books was Gay SF? Cxxxx Pxxxx wrote: > Hmmm, I responded to Dave that I thought it was a good question > for the simple reason that, no matter how enlightened and > forward-thinking we are, we live in a world that mostly is not. > That makes it a good question in regards to what RFF wants to > accomplish. Cxxxx, Ixxxx and other RFFers -- First, I have never read a book that I would not recommend to someone. But my personal rule is know the book; know prospective reader. For example, I want to read the Okal Rel Universe series by Lynda J. Williams (who is on this list). Sexuality is interesting as she points out in *Vrellish Evolutionary Biology* by Lynda J. Williams (co-author of the Okal Rel Universe series)presented on web to Science Fiction and Organization Sept 15, 1999. "If gender-differentiated human behaviour is driven by biological imperatives tied to reproductive strategies, as argued in works of evolutionary biology such as Robin Baker's Sperm wars: the science of sex, then only changing the rules of reproductive success can yield genuine variations on the status quo. Nature itself yields up anomalies suggestive of what might be possible, but science fiction is uniquely fit for making variables of gender traits most people instinctively accept as constants, such as the absurdity and/or physical impossibility of a woman forcing sex on an unwilling man. "The Vrellish, a fictional race of bioengineered humans featured in the Okal Rel Universe series, illustrate what such a shift in biology might look like, within a cultural framework where it is the norm. In the process questions can be asked and answered, at least in fictional dramatisation, about what is a fundamental consequence of male and female sexual and reproductive mechanics, versus attendant secondary sex characteristics such as disposition or muscular strength, and the power structures and competitive processes of the culture in which reproductive strategies succeed or fail. Evolutionary biology is applied to justify Vrellish nature in terms of the reproductive dynamics of its formative environment. Go to … http://www.okalrel.org/ref/essays/vrellish.html … for the complete article. But the RFF question is would I give Lynda's book to a student. Not without reading it and not without knowing the reader. Lynda cautions (as 1,000 messages back) in just giving her book to everyone. RFF Utah gives away hundreds of books each year. With the exception of Helge Moulding ( ;>) ), I do not think that the RFF Utah team has read every book donated for Utah students. (RFF Utah accepts ALL books but not all books are offered for school or library use. The _Gor_ series are traded at used book stores for other titles. A stock statement is placed in each book: It is the responsibility of those accepting this book to determine the suitability of giving it to a student.) Last year, I gave Asimov's _Caves of Steel_ series to a young reader who was in a program for sex offenders. I had forgotten the discussion of sex within the second book. I still recommend the series. > Do we want to emphasize alternative sexuality in the > literature that we promote for youngsters -- to the possible > (likely?) aggravation of conservative parents? Cxxxx, here it depends on age appropriateness and knowing the community. _Handmaid's Tale_ (the 37th most banned book) may be better used with older students in a seminar setting. BoB (RFF Utah's Box of Books) does offer it on some high school lists. > Or, can we steer youngsters to sf/f as a whole, with the knowledge > that we will be exposing them to many alternative paths of thought - > - including all forms of sexuality -- knowing that it will > encourage their critical thinking skills and possibly enlighten > them? Yes. Know the book; know the prospective reader. Dave Anderson Subscribe: rff-subscribe@egroups.com Unsubscribe: rff-unsubscribe@egroups.com Human: rffutahe@juno.com |
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