Feminism…what?
I observed Women’s Liberation first hand in the late 1960’s and 1970’s. My mother was part of the first generation of highly-respected professional women out in the workforce. They were bitches to work for though. Their credo was—I had to claw my way up here and you’ll learn to do the same. It was tough going but I have an excellent work ethic because of it.
My great-aunt was a scientist who worked on the Yellow Fever vaccine at Walter Reed in the 1930’s and 1940’s. My grandmother had a law degree. Both my mother and ex-mother-in-law were professional writers and editors. I’ve learned my trade from the best.
With a pedigree like that it’s hard to call me anti-feminist. It’s also hard to say that I don’t understand the meaning of being a strong, independent woman.
I look for strong female characters in fiction and have found many in old pulp stories. You see them in all the genres: adventuresses, aviatrixes, professionals, scientists, detectives, and entrepreneurs. I’m going to focus today on the science fiction heroines.
By the illustrations on the magazine covers (and sometimes the interior artwork, too) they’re pictured as hair-brained girls in skirted bikinis screaming in white-eyed terror. I’m not denying these images are there, they sold magazines. But behind the salacious imagery we often find strong and interesting characters playing important roles beyond “damsel in distress.” (Although they sometimes play that role, too.)
Let’s look at a few examples.
Wilma Deering: love interest of Buck Rogers. She is an important member of the American rebel forces, an adventuress. Wilma is stylish, feminine, but no fainting flower when it comes to adventure or battle. She first appears in the story Armageddon—2419 A. D. in Amazing Stories in 1928. She was written by several but originally by Philip Francis Nowlan.
Gerry Carlyle: interplanetary adventuress. She is a big game hunter for exoterrestrial animals all over the solar system. She’s British and works under contract for the London Zoo. Gerry has a fiancé, Tommy Strike, her co-captain. But it’s her team of hunters and she’s very clearly in charge. She appears in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Written by Arthur K. Barnes, sometimes in collaboration with Henry Kuttner.
Joan Randall: love interest of Curt Newton, Captain Future. Joan is a special agent of the Planet Police, working as an undercover cop all over the solar system in a sort of secret agent role. She appears in the 1940’s. Joan was written by Edmond Hamilton, primarily.
Hadron Dalla: scientist and paratime cop. She’s the wife of Verkan Vall, special assistant to the Chief of the Paratime Police. Dalla is a top scientist in an agency studying metaphysics and mental powers. She appears from the 1940’s through 1960’s. Written by H. Beam Piper.
Virgilia “Jill” Samms: daughter of First Lensman, Virgil Samms. She’s an intelligence agent with a highly-developed skill for reading body language. She’s also able to receive telepathic messages from the Lensmen. Additionally, she’s an unwitting part of an ages-long breeding program by extraterrestrials to produce ultimate humans. First appears in 1950. Written by E.E. “Doc” Smith.
Clarissa Kinnison née Mac Dougall, also of the Lensmen series. The first female Lensman (“Lensperson” is incorrect.) She is a nurse who later becomes a super hero, as are the other Lensmen. Her children are the end result of an ages-long alien breeding program to produce ultimate humans. First appears in 1939. Written by E.E. ‘Doc” Smith.
And all of these from male writers.
Strong female character models were all around writers during the early and mid-twentieth centuries. Here are some examples:
Nurses during WWI. (For example: Anna Caroline Maxwell—the “American Florence Nightingale.” Anna is remembered for her role in establishing the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.)
Adventuresses and aviatrixes in the 1920’s. (For example: Amelia Earhart, Ruth Elder and Florence Klingensmith.)
Scientists like my great-aunt in the 1930’s and 1940’s.
Women working in wartime factories (“Rosie the Riveter”) during the 1940’s.
Women lawyers and doctors in the 1950’s.
“Liberated” professional women like my mother and mother-in-law in the 1960’s and ‘70’s.
Throughout all of these decades we also had strong mothers and wives who were in ultimate charge of their part of the family and/or household. To believe that women pre-1970 were only victims of male oppression is revisionist. History doesn’t bear that out. The evidence of my own eyes and ears doesn’t either. That’s not to say that there wasn’t a double standard and that it was essentially, “a man’s world.” It was. But examples of strong women were everywhere and inspired writers to create deeper and more meaningful characters.
Certainly, there are examples of women in literature who needed saving. Let’s face it, there are times when going it alone as a woman is scary and simply foolish. We’re not all highly skilled martial artists or handy with a pistol. (Although, pulp heroines were often capable shooters, even if they couldn’t throw a good punch.) These female characters were smart enough to know when they needed back-up. That said, pulp heroines often fought alongside men and held their own.
While it is true that many female heroines had marriage and family in mind as an ultimate goal, this can be seen as simple biology. Remember the idea of the “biological clock”? Who better as a potential mate than a super-science hero? To me, this speaks of planning for the future.
And one more thing. Sometimes science fiction is used as a vehicle for social criticism. This was common, especially during the 1950’s. I have seen a dry use of satire misconstrued by contemporary readers as straight narrative. It’s wise to remember that if we narrow down our focus too much it’s easy to see the pebbles. But let’s not forget the beach.
This is the Rocketeer signing off.