I think it is time not only to tweak the stereotype about science fiction being a male province, but for the genre itself to have a more female slant. I myself started reading science fiction at the age of ten, and I loved HW Well, Jules Verne and Asimov. As a children’s writer I wanted to write a fantasy adventure sci fi book with a feminist slant and a female protagonist. I have recently self published an e book (Goddess in Pyjamas) about a schoolgirl being abducted to another planet to save their world. It was rejected by publishers because it did not fit into an accepted niche. I felt there was a market out there for sci fi adventure for girls so I wanted to re-invent the genre and create what I like to call ‘pink sci-fi’. It has the sensuality of a girly book and features mythical creatures as well as space travel. More Hitchhikers Guide meet Wizard of Oz, than Star Wars. I was puzzled to find that they don’t even have a section for sci fi for children at all in the flagship branch of Waterstones in Piccadilly. Isn’t it time that publishers and booksellers began to realise that children need as wide a range of reading as adults? If self published ebooks are the only way to get this kind of risk-taking, experimental stuff out there, they deserve to lose out.
It’s just another gender stereotype, just like “only girls like romance.”
I LOVE sci-fi/fantasy and I even know a few boys who’ve enjoyed a chick flick here and there.
I’m a woman and I like sci-fi. I haven’t ever actually encountered any surprise among people when I’ve pointed this out. I think perhaps twenty years ago people thought that sci-fi was a male thing, but I think most people are a lot more enlightened now. I used to attend a spec-fic writing group and the split between men and women was pretty much 50-50.
Waterstone’s doesn’t typically have *any* genre sections for kids in its branches, so I don’t think it’s in any way anti-sci-fi. It stocks lots of sci-fi titles for kids; they just aren’t on a special shelf. You’ll probably find more sci-fi fantasy, proportionately, in the children’s section than you will in the adult section.
I actually don’t thinking calling what you write ‘pink sci-fi’ really helps the gender stereotype thing. Really, it’s for girls so you have it call it ‘pink’? Isn’t that a little patronising? As a woman who reads sci-fi among many other genres, I would not touch a book with a bargepole if the author had labelled it ‘pink’ on the assumption that ‘girls want pink’. That’s perpetuating just as much of a stereotype as the people who claim that girls don’t like sci-fi at all.
If you want to write sci-fi with a feminist slant, don’t spoil it by lazily sticking the word ‘pink’ in front of it and start talking about ‘the sensuality of a girly book’. That’s not a feminist slant, it’s a cynical marketing ploy that perpetuates the very stereotypes you claim to disapprove of. Why wouldn’t girls want to read hard-edged sci-fi adventure that’s nothing like a ‘girly book’ at all?
To be honest, you just sound a little bitter that publishers didn’t like your book.
It’s a stereotype. Just like only women read romance. I love sci fi though. I grew up with my dad and I watching sci fi movies, reading sci fi books and being more interested in science/space than anything else. It was a big mystery to me.
Honestly, you just sound bitter because you self published a book and no one reads it. Well, there’s a reason for that. It’s cause it’s self published.
There is no such thing as “pink sci fi”. It’s sci fi. You calling it “pink” makes it sound more girly or more acceptable to girls, but that’s not how it is. You don’t call romance “blue romance” in order to appeal to guys do you?
If someone wants to read your self published book, they will. If they don’t want to, they won’t. You can’t force someone to read it.
I did not read your rant but to answer your question:
Girls tend to be more emotional in a lot of things and will read books that appeal to emotions. This is a stereotype but all stereotypes are based on truth. This is why “chick flicks” are all about relationships and the emotions that stem from that.
Now I’m not a stereotypical girl and chick flicks are like nails on a chalkboard to me, but I still like being emotionally atatched to my characters in whatever book I’m reading.
um…. there’s been a market for girls and sci-fi for years.
Ever hear of Anne McCaffrey? There’s her Dragonriders of Pern series, which has been around longer than I’ve been alive (since 1968), and she has other series that are sci-fi too.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_McCaff…
There’s also Andre Norton, one of the pillars of early sci-fi.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Norto…
Mary Gentlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Gentle
Lois McMaster Bujoldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_McMast…
CS Friedmanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.S._Friedm…
Octavia Butlerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_E._…
CJ Cherryhhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Cherr…
Vonda McIntyrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vonda_N._Mc…
Joan D Vingehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_D._Vin…
You might want to research your chosen field a bit more, if you didn’t know these (sorry) >.>
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edit:
I’m actually adding more to this, because your question really bothers me. It sounds very demeaning and insults the intelligence of girls/women.
Do you honestly believe you have to dumb down traditional sci-fi so as to cater to females?
I’ve read the above books when I was in middle school.
As for childrens’ books, they don’t really seperate out the genres. They usually all get lumped together.
If you’re having trouble finding a market for your self-published book, maybe you need to go with a traditional publishing company as they have more clout and distribution range.
Also, I’m begging you, if you are female, please don’t contribute to the whole “dumb things down for girls/make things pink and girly” bandwagon.
We get put down a lot in life by men and cultural norms (ie: women aren’t as smart as men, women shouldn’t get paid the same as men, women shouldn’t hold positions of power), so please don’t contribute to that whole idea. I’d like to think this was the 21st century now, and not 1950’s America. :c