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How do you categorize Girls Who Like Sci-Fi? Because really, there aren't that many of them, but there seem to be a lot of them here.
Are they girls who like science? Are they trying to rebel from their cheerleader-type peers? Is it an offshoot of the "Girls Who Like Fantasy" who read all the Anne McCaffrey novels in the library and had to pick something to move on to? Or are they simply girls who started reading SciFi to impress boys, albeit dorky boys?
I'm afraid I may be one of the latter, though I did enjoy it once the ulterior motive had served it purpose.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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I tend to categorize them as cooler than the average person, myself. Well, depends on the authors they like, I suppose. If they're all about Anne McCaffery and the latter-day Dune books, I'm generally not going to be particularly impressed.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote: Are they girls who like science? Are they trying to rebel from their cheerleader-type peers? Is it an offshoot of the "Girls Who Like Fantasy" who read all the Anne McCaffrey novels in the library and had to pick something to move on to? Or are they simply girls who started reading SciFi to impress boys, albeit dorky boys?
Hmmmmm, I wouldn't fit into any of those categories. I just like sci-fi. I have yet to find the prevelance of rich ideas in science fiction in any other genre. I don't know what grouping that puts me in. Posts: 1947 | Registered: Aug 2002
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I definately am not into "science" but I love science fiction. To tell you the truth, I really don't know why I was attracted to it. I've always read pretty much anything I could get my hands on, and luckily one day I got my hands on "Stranger in a Strange Land." Though not the best book ever written, it definately motivated me to start seeking out books in the genre.
I'm going to make some generalizations here. I don't think "science" is the problem here. Many science fiction novels are plot-driven thrillers. There is little character development or exploration of human relationships (see Asimov).
Girls are more interested in social dynamics, relationships, and dialogue. This is why books like Speaker for the Dead are such treasures.
Posts: 4116 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Anne McCaffrey is a great ambassador, though. Kind of a chick recruiter.
And yes, Porter, I think you're right. The average GWLSF is more likely to have read Terry Goodkind than, um... <insert name of prominent hard scifi author here>
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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I like to read books. A lot. Sci fi, fantasy, doesn't matter to me. Though I'd consider Anne McCaffrey to be more Sci Fi than fantasy... Anyway. I just read what catches my fancy.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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<=== likes "hard" sci-fi as long as it isn't *too* boring
I like what I like.
And I think the issue here is "speculative fiction", stories that explore the "what if". Perhaps it is for those of us who are dissatisfied with the way things are around us or who just like exploring new possibilities.
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Amancer, I think that puts you in my "cooler-than-the-average-person" category, wouldn't you say?
Pretty much all of my favorite SF is character driven, or at least has deeply drawn, very real characters as a an integral part of the book. There's actually plenty of it, if you know where to look.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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<anecdote> Once, one of my dear girlfriends (of the small-town 4-H buddy type) was at my house and we decided to watch a movie. I was shocked she had never seen Men in Black, and told her she must. About ten minutes into it, she said, "I didn't know this was one of those Star Track movies. What else do you have?" Until this point, I was unaware that this sensibility among females existed. Apparently, though, it's quite prevalent. It's OK, though, we watched Jane Austen and everything turned out fine. </anecdote>
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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When I was younger, I was adamant that I DID NOT like sf. Ender's Game changed that for me. Now I have read quite a bit of Asimov, some Clarke, lots of Card, many short stories by varios sf authors, and a few other sf novels. I have easily read more sf than fantasy, and I enjoy it much more.
I do like science, though it's not my passion. I tend to pick out the most psychological, though-provoking books I can find. Strange: I tend to go for harder sf. I wonder why.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Annie, is it ok if I start a thead asking how everybody started reading SF ? I know girls can tell their story here, so I don't want to compete or anything... Just to open it to anyone, regardless of sex, religion, color, etc.
Edit: Or you could change the title ? And derail your own thread... Now that would be something !
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I started because of my older brother. I read Ender's Game at around eleven and I was sold. I don't like most of it, though - I like the character-based, well-written stories.
I read bubble-gum books, but those are usually Agatha Christies or L.M. Montgomery. The science fiction is to think.
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For me, my father read sci-fi (Asimov, to be exact), and I just started reading it cause it was around the house. It's just...what I read. I like science well enough, I suppose (though it isn't a passion and definitely isn't my career). Eh...I like the stories, I like the alternate realities, I like imagining the future...all sorts of reasons, but most having to do with the stories themselves.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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quote:How do you categorize Girls Who Like Sci-Fi?
Ahh, but the question is, "Why do YOU categorize Girls Who Like SciFi."
GWLSF are definately in the category of people who do not like to be categorized.
WWHHOH (Women Who Have a Home On Hatrack--pronounced, Whooa, as in Whoa Momma) fall into the category of people who do not like to be categorized.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Annie, I could have sworn there was one too, but I was unable to find it... And thanks...
And, before I forget again, I'll answer this thread's question:
Besides Anna ::basks in fond memories from the wedding:: I have yet to meet a girl SF fan. A SF fan who likes girls - you're looking at... his writing... A girl who likes SF fans, yeap, found some. (though it usually has nothing to do actually with the guy liking SF) But girl AND SF fan...
So, how do I categorize them ? Inexisant in my little corner of the world...
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I've liked SF books for a pretty long time. Perhaps the first one I read was one of my mom's books called The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet (I think). After that, I was pretty hooked. Mostly, I like my SF pretty hard--Asimov and Heinlein are some of my favorites. But a good character development book like many of Card's are also enjoyable for me.
I love science and math, so that's probably why I like science fiction.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Oh, Shigosei! I have such a little shrine in the corner of my heart for The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet! I recently found an old copy at a used book sale.
And what about the Wrinkle in Time books? Did that get anyone into SciFi? It would have been the kicker for me, but it was pre-empted by McCaffrey's The Rowan series when I was 11. I never did like her dragon books that much, though.
I guess it wasn't the boys that got me into SciFi... it was just the boys that got me into OSC. Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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quote: Is it an offshoot of the "Girls Who Like Fantasy" who read all the Anne McCaffrey novels in the library and had to pick something to move on to?
*ahem* I have to admit that there was a time when Anne McCaffrey made up a large chunk of my reading, and I'll swallow my pride and say this. I read a chunk of them. I read lots of fantasy as a child, but also a lot of science fiction (one of my favourite books for a long time was a under the ground city book (the best of the lot, in my opinion), called This Time of Darkness).
I just realised I don't know any science fiction-liking girls in real life other than myself. I never thought about it before. Hm.
Personally, I think it is a combination of girls who like science, girls who are fed up with girly fantasy (I'll pick up a book I read aged thirteen and my brain'll explode.) and girls who just like the idea of science fiction. I guess.
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More years than I care to remember ago a young lady my age introduced me to the enjoyment of science fiction. She was a fan of Robert Heinlein. I have never forgotten this. She never knew just what that introduction to reading for enjoyment meant and now I can never tell her.
Girls and Science Fiction rock, IMHO.
Posts: 440 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Teshi- That's by H.M. Hoover. I think she's one of the best young adult authors out there. She's mostly out of print, so it's really cool you've read her!
Some of the first books I read were the OZ books, and from there I just naturally went into other fantasy and science fiction. H.M. Hoover, Grace Chetwin and Pamela Service were my first science fiction. I'm strange, I guess, I didn't read Ender's Game until I was sixteen and had been reading science fiction for a a while.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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* s at people dissing Anne McCaffrey again*
quote: And what about the Wrinkle in Time books? Did that get anyone into SciFi?
That would be me! And I love science, and enjoy speculative fiction of all sorts. I like "hard" sf IF AND ONLY IF it has good stories/character development. Spare me the "gee whiz, I can make up cool technology" stuff.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I grew up reading it, it was around. I started reading Heinlein and Herbert at an early age. It didn't hurt that my mom was a major, major Trekkie and that I got into Star Wars early too. I was at least in third grade until I realised that made me weird.
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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You know, there's an entire series of Mushroom Planet books . . . we've got them lying around here someplace.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote:Are they girls who like science? Are they trying to rebel from their cheerleader-type peers?
Not all cheerleaders hate science. I did, but it had nothing to do with being a cheerleader (and everything to do with frustration at a lack of aptitude and unreasonably high expectations that come from being the daughter of a renowned surgeon).
I don't know that I can say that I like sci-fi. I love OSC's works, Madeleine L'Engle's works, and the first couple of Dune books. Other than that, I really hate Star Trek and all of those types of books and movies and t.v. shows.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I will categorize them as uber-cool. A girl who likes sci-fi, and will admit to it, has already achieved half the requirements of being the woman I'm going to marry. Posts: 3852 | Registered: Feb 2002
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My first thought was that the characters tend to be more 'real' then straight adult fiction but then I thought of the Patrick Gale book I just finished (Little Bits of Baby) which has some of the best character development I've seen in quite a while. And definately not sci-fi.
I do also like fantasy, and I did read Anne MacCaffrey and David Eddings when I was at school (and I still re-read them). I also loved Asimov at school though. And now I read everything from Sean Williams to Ian Banks to Kim Stanley Robinson and pretty much everything I get my hands on.
I think one of the reasons I find sci-fi attractive is that in my opinion it tends to be less pretentious then some adult fiction. There is, of course, pretentious sci-fi (which I don't tend to read) and there is amazing, non-pretentious adult fiction. But as a general rule if I pick up a sci-fi book, I know that I won't have to wade my way through self-conscious allusions and symbolism to find the story.
(Yep, I'm a lazy reader. Either that, or I like my symbolism gradually unfolding, not steam-rolled into me in the first paragraph.)
The other thing to consider is I just like reading. So most genres, if you ask do I read them, the answer will be yes. And I read different types of sci-fi/fantasy, like I do all genres, for different purposes - the 'easy-read', familiar type, the more intellectual sci-fi, the accessible but challenging and so on.
Actually, this thread is a good venue to ask - I need more sci-fi/fantasy authors. Hatrack's last recommendation on this front was Red Mars and the George RR Martin series, both of which I enjoyed. So, where to next?
Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote: That's by H.M. Hoover. I think she's one of the best young adult authors out there. She's mostly out of print, so it's really cool you've read her!
I was disappointed to discover that she was out of print when a few years back I wanted to retire my old copy of This Time of Darkness, which was falling appart, and replace my reading-copy with a shiny new one. Thwarted!
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Well, Annie, it seems that someone didn't like me starting that thread. My Internet connection died on me between my last post in this thread and the post that was supposed to start the other.
So... I'll do it right now.
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Hmmm, girls who like sci-fi and guys who like girls who like sci-fi. Well, I know which one surprises me more. Javert and Bekenn, can I stalk you? Posts: 1090 | Registered: Oct 2003
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This is a funny thread. I was just thinking to myself last night that I can't marry a guy that doesn't like Sci Fi. I mean, he's going to have to be a NERD.
I read the Wrinkle in Time series, but that didn't get me looking for more in the genre. They were just good books that I liked. I read girlier books growing up and a LOT of the classics. I still love those a lot. But, I was dating a really intelligent guy (Sci Fi nerd) and we were discussing books we'd read...he told me I needed to read Ender's Game. So I did. Case closed. I was 19 years old. (Yet, in my TV watching, I've always been a huge trek fan and I'm the first in line to see a movie like Men in Black or Star Wars....I definitely have a taste for the alternate universe.)
I think that reading OSC is what got me interested in reading other Sci Fi. I'm just now diving into Heinlein (I'm reading Starship Troopers) and Bradbury. I find that now that I'm a little older, I really love and appreciate it all a whole lot more.
What's even more unusual is that I didn't read fantasy either. Go figure! I think that the Princess Bride was the first fantasy book that I read before my OSC period. Now I'm slowly getting into fantasy (I read LotR a few years ago and I just finished Wicked), but sci fi seems to have the draw right now.
Anyway, because of all this, I don't think I fit the stereotype. I'm definitely a nerd, but I think what I am more than that is a reader. I find that I like sci fi because I love to read and it's part of the whole experience. Sometimes I'm an expert in it (depending on the phase), but I also am getting to be quite the expert in 19th century British lit. You know?
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