SCIENCE FICTION…THAT…EXPLORES OUR UNDERSTANDING OF GENDER. I have posted a number of times on James Tiptree, Jr., a highly regarded science fiction writer, and on Alice Bradley Sheldon, who was Tiptree. I knew Alice Bradley Sheldon when I was young, and in several posts (including here) recorded what I remembered about her because she is an important and fascinating person, who was the subject of a superb biography: JAMES TIPTREE, JR.: THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ALICE B. SHELDON by Julie Phillips. I also posted (for example here) on the story of how Alice Sheldon adopted a masculine pseudonym (taken from a jar of jam), and convinced readers of the existence of Tiptree, a male writer who explored gender issues. Now, I find that there has been a James Tiptree award since 1991. It is an annual award for “science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender.” Here is a link to the website, which describes recent winners and explains that: “The name “Tiptree†was selected [for the award] to illustrate the complex role of gender in writing and reading.”
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Another very good one, because of its nuanced views, is Ursula Le Guin’s “The Dispossessed.” I’ve used it in my utopias/dystopias class because of its rejection of absolutist thinking about “ideal worlds” and its view that commitment to the process of seeking utopia is the most important dimension.
It also has some amazing insights into perceptions of science, music and time.