In what should come as no surprise to anyone who has talked to me for longer than forty-five seconds, I self-identify as a geek feminist. How could I not? It’s widely agreed that Mary Shelley wrote the first science fiction novel, Frankenstein, when she was only 18 years old; Ursula K. Le Guin has received the most Nebula Awards for Best Novel with four wins out of six nominations; and Octavia Butler, who also has shelves of awards, has long fought for better depictions of race, class and gender in the genre. How could you not be a geek feminist with these sorts of kick-butt women paving the way for new generations of science fiction writers?
With all that backstory, it goes without saying that I am enjoying every page of Kameron Hurley’s The Geek Feminist Revolution, a fantastic book of essays about the history of women in sci-fi, current issues plaguing the genre, and her own experiences as a writer. You should probably check it out!
And if you’re less of a geek feminist and more of just a straight up fan of women in publishing, this look at the many different covers of The Feminine Mystique should be right up your alley.
-Dani “Franken-Fan” Farmer