and

[maevele]

I thought i had read all of heinleins adult books. Had Glory road confused with some other book, and had never read it. I have a weird thing with RAH's books, in that i read them all before feministing up, right? and I've been able to see the problematicality, since people pointed it out, and handwave it away because that's just how he is, and you work around it and enjoy the story anyhow. This, however, is HORRIBLE. OMG, it's as though because I don't have the fond familiarity that lets me handwave the sexist bullshit, it's sooooooooo front and center. like, brain explodey.


And it makes me realize, because of how RAH was so central to my scifi adolescence, that handwaving and excuse making (look at the time he was writing, at least he has strong women, other writers were worse etc) has made it impossible for me to look at his work honestly until now, and is probably going to take some serious mental adjustment for me to get past because of how deeply ingrained it is for me. it's hard for me not to handwave and excuse it.

He's the only one of the 'classic' sf authors of that era I have read much of at all, but he was like, big time favorite author for me for my whole teen years.

Comments

[shweta-narayan.livejournal.com]

I know this problem.
I can't read any of my adolescent skiffy faves any more. Unless Left Hand of Darkness counts.

[general-jinjur.livejournal.com]

i have exactly the same heinlein thing going on - they're comforting! and also repellent. oh bob, why couldn't you have been better? i would feel better about my teenagehood.

[contrarywise]

Joining the *oh, Bob...* chorus already in progress. I haven't read any of his books in many years, but I'm not at all sure I could stand to. He was a huge favorite author of mine in my teens, but ye Gods, his work really does not age well.

[popelizbet.livejournal.com]

Been there, done that, grimaced in horror. I feel for ya.

[belleweather.livejournal.com]

God he is really beyond awful, isn't he? Even the good-ish sociopolitical stuff that I loved as a kid haunts me when I think about how he portrayed women in it.

[cumaeansibyl.livejournal.com]

Oh, the "but he writes strong female characters" bit. *hworf*

His standard of a "strong woman" always, always, always includes freewheeling sexuality (by which I mainly mean the urge to fuck a lot of guys) and the ability to have lots of children. And the other stuff she's supposed to be able to do -- I'm thinking of the lists he wrote up in Time Enough for Love -- well, that also kind of smacks of "men shouldn't have to do all the work, so women should help them out."