Talk:Houston, Houston, Do You Read?

Plot summary

This happens to be one of my favorite sci-fi novellas, so I decided to expand the stub. It is my first attempt at a book plot summary, so those who have also read the book should feel free to correct, truncate or expand, deobfuscate, clarify, NPOV-ize, and generally improve my feeble attempt. In fact, I insist on it! StanislavJ 20:20, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

A splendid summary, which covers all the points, I reckon. Thanks.

As this is also one of my favourite novellas, and my favourite Tiptree, please forgive a small niggle: the main Tiptree page describes the future civilisation as consisting of a 'somewhat colorless and ruthless society of female clones'.

For me, the message implicit in both 'Houston' and the equally extraordinary 'The Women Men Don't See' is just how horrible it is for many women living in a male-dominated world. As a male, and I'm very grateful to Allie for showing me this.

Far from 'colorless and ruthless', these women were responding sensibly and rationally to a very real and deadly threat. The behaviour of the men, in contrast, makes it pretty clear that their own response to a similar situation would probably be less careful and more bloody.

As you point out, the future all-female civilisation turns out to be entirely happy without men. Precisely why they are so content is made plain by the deranged behaviour of the chemically disinhibited Sunbird crew. I'd like to have seen these points given a bit more emphasis - which I think they deserve. I confess I have no idea how, though. --Cdavis999 (talk) 22:11, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

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BetacommandBot (talk) 23:22, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Annotated Bibliography

• Ellis, Jason (2014). "James Tiptree, Jr.'s "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" Bridging Herland to the Stars". Science Fiction Studies: Utopias Module. 1 (1). Ellis describes Tiptree’s novels ''Houston, Houston, Do You Read? And Herland as twice told tales. Ellis explores how both works are told in a male’s voice but ultimately through a females point of view speaking about males. In his article he mentions the means of reproduction after a wipe of the male population, the connection between mothering and childcare happening behind the scenes, and explores a second wave of feminism. RyanArian (talk) RyanArian (talk) 12:20, 23 March 2021 (UTC)

• Evans, Rebecca (2015). "James Tiptree Jr.: Rereading Essentialism and Ecofeminism in the 1970s.". Women's Studies Quarterly. 43 (3/4): 223–239. doi:10.1353/wsq.2015.0048. Retrieved 25 March 2021. Evans published this article to give readers more insight into why Tiptree wrote Houston, Houston, Do you Read? One of the reasons that she wrote it, was to protest against the gender equality present and promote the ecofeminist movement. In the beginning of the article, Evans quotes Naomi Klein about how she fears for her son because of climate change. "When Klein’s environmentally just future rests on a vision of Earth as a woman needing help with her ovaries, it’s time to revisit ecofeminism," (Evans 223).Abi sap (talk) 00:23, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

• Pearson, Carol (1977). "Woman's Fantasies and Feminist Utopias". Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. 2 (3): 50–61. Retrieved 25 March 2021. In this novel, feminism is a big aspect. This article explains in depth, how the feminist perspective influenced the novel. Readers are able to see how the women in the novel built a kind of "female utopia" for themselves on their spaceship. This article explains how these women use their isolation as a way of empowerment by alienating themselves by the patriarchal society they were once part of, and how this new alternative society was disrupted with the influence of men.Jennifero2000 (talk) 01:24, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

• Unger, Rhoda (2009). "Science Fictive Psychologist's View". 19: 113–117. Retrieved 25 March 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) This journal explores the feminist role of women throughout the novel. When a group of male astronauts return to their home they encounter a spaceship full of women. At this point, the women are in control. It was uncommon for women to appear in science . This was a man's role. For this reason, the novel is unusual for its time. Anawimpy98 (talk) 03:55, 26 March 2021 (UTC)