[cross-posted at Liberty and Power] Thanks to David Beito for the guest blogging opportunity.
With the Heinlein Centenary celebrations scheduled for July 7, 2007, more and more stories about sf writer Robert A. Heinlein will start to surface. Long criticized by liberals, Heinlein (seen by many fans, writers, and critics as the first libertarian sf writer), gets a nod over at the New York Times (registration required) for his radical ideas instead of the usual reactionary claims. M.G. Lord’s essay hints that Heinlein’s radical ideas about women found better expressions in his earlier works, especially the less serious juvenile stories. Lord even praises parts of Starship Troopers, often mis-read as a “fascist” and “militaristic” work. Several of Heinlein’s young female characters indeed appeared more capable and individualistic than their male counterparts, and tended to remind me of Harper Lee’s Scout, from To Kill a Mockingbird. This may be a matter of opinion, but I tend to agree with the contrast between Heinlein’s earlier and later books; works published after 1970 grew longer and more complex, but at the same time less interesting.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Heinlein, but I know a couple ladies who would take issue with characterizing him as a “feminist,” considering the part in Stranger in a Strange Land where he seems to argue that women sometimes bring rapes upon themselves.
I won’t argue with you there, and I think the author of the piece in the NYT probably feels the same. Stranger in a Strange Land and Heinlein’s works published after 1970 probably fails to meet individualist criteria, let alone feminist.