There has been a big change in the literature world lately, specifically, in mystery and science fiction. Women authors are taking matters into their own hands and writing characters that are actually relate-able to other women. In the past, we think of mystery and science fiction as a more male dominated genre in both authors and in characters. But now, women writers are changing things up.
In the past few years, there has been an increase in the amount of women authors writing detective novels but the significance isn't just in the authors; it's in their characters. Most mysteries are "characterized by first person narration by a male professional private investigator that works alone, talks tough, trusts few other people, and is involved in frequent violent situations in urban settings" (Schoenfeld 837). Even some of the more predominant women writers were still writing these male characters. However, most of the women authors today are writing women protagonists solving crimes and dealing with societal demands. The novels are discussing issues such as child pornography, abusive significant others, illegal works, divorce, death of a spouse, and even single parenthood (Schoenfeld 837). These women authors are creating a relate-able character for other middle-class women that hasn't been created before in a mystery novel. Mystery novels, compared to some romance novels, are passed around with ease, there's no embarrassing shoveling to hide the novel under your pillow before your mom or husband comes in.
The readership for the detective fiction is not looking for the same 'thrills' provided by the romance novels ... the new detective fiction may have some sexual activity and be mildly descriptive of it at times, but what the readers want is a solution to the crime and a feminine awareness of social issues. (Schoenfeld 843)
The sexual issues raised in this new subgenre of mystery deal with different types of relationships and with the new gusty heroines that aren't afraid to admit, and give in, to their sexual desires. The women characters are acting was empowered women just as many of the readers themselves would like to be (Schoenfeld 844). In Janet Evanovich's popular mystery series about an amateur bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum, she finds herself dealing with crimes and being a single women in New Jersey. She describes her feelings for a local cop, Joe Morelli, who she had a romantic past with:
And then he kissed me. His tongue touched mine, and I thought, well, what the hell, maybe I am dangerous. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea. After all, there was a time when I wanted nothing more than a Morelli-induced orgasm. Well, here was my chance. It wasn't as if we were strangers. it wasn't as if I didn't deserve it. Maybe we should go into the bedroom, I said. "Get away from the sharp knives in case something goes wrong and I'm tempted to stab him." (Evanovich 63)
Despite the tradition of having non-touchy feely detectives, these women are not afraid to spill their guts. The new heroines are more open about their feelings, even if that feeling is fear. In the novel
Summer of the Dragon, the amateur sleuth explains her feelings when she hears a gun shot nearby: "I almost died of sheer terror, but I kept moving, scuttling like a crab toward the nearest crevice and expecting at any moment to feel pain, blood" (Peters 301). Often times the heroine excepts help as well, something we are also missing in the traditional male dominated mystery novels. For example, Stephanie Plum acquires the help of Morelli, Ranger (the expert bounty hunter), and Lula (an ex-prostitute). Where as before, getting help was shown as a sign of weakness for the tough, male, detectives, now, the lead women characters are gladly excepting their help.
In a the genre of science fiction (SF), the women authors are taking a different stance against the male domination of our society and of literature. These SF stories are centered around new Utopian societies that no longer are controlled by men, in fact in some, men don't even exist. "These new societies are made up of men and women living together in social and sexual relationships so altered that there are no longer any distinctions or hierarchy based on sex" (Fitting 161). The new Utopian societies make changes in three different areas: 1). living alternate to the nuclear family; 2). gender stereotypes and division of labor; and 3). sexuality. Different authors go about these changes in different ways, whereas the women of
Motherlines completely rid men from their society, Sally Gearhearts women in
Wanderground, have a secret relationship with men who aid and support them through the assigned functions separate from women's functions. Suzy Charnes, the author of
Motherlines, made the following comment when she realized there would be no men in her novel:
With the spectrum of human behavior in my story no longer split into male roles (everything active, brave and muscular) and female roles (everything passive, intuitive, shrinking and soft), my emerging women had access to the entire range of human behavior. They acted new roles appropriate to social relationships among a society of equals which allowed them to behave simply as human beings... (Fittings 161)
As Charnes says, without the constraints of male female gender roles, it allowed herself to fully open up to the possibilities of her female characters. Is this true for real life as well? What if we were able to get rid of all of our gender stereotypes, would that allow men and women to reach their full potential as individuals and as a whole. Not only are the women stronger in character, but the men, the ones allowed in novels, are more tender and caring than what is commonly thought.
Both genres are making progressive work at changing the way these novels are written. More women are writing for women, which creates a more relate-able character for women to read. In mysteries, the amateur detectives are dealing with everyday societal challenges such as divorce, single parenting, marriage, family, etc while solving high profile crimes. These women are also more in touch with their feelings and aren't afraid of accepting help which was a one eighty from the past detectives. In SF, the women are not only taking charge of their lives but the entire society. These Utopian societies have created a world without men or where men are simply used for certain functions separate of women's. This allowed authors to fully expand their women heroine's character without having to deal with the gender norms. As the literature world keeps opening its doors to women writing for women novels, I believe we will see a greater increase in female readership and an increase in feminist ideals.
-Liz Harrison
Work Cited
Evanovich, Janet. Four to Score. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998. Print.
Fitting, Peter. "'So Well All Became Mothers': New Roles for Men in Recent Utopian Fiction." Fiction Studies 12.2 (1985): 156-183. Print.
Peters, Elizabeth. Summer of the Dragon. New York: Harper Collins, 2012. Print.
Schoenfeld, Bethe. "Women Writers Writing about Women Detectives in Twenty-First Century America." The Journal of Popular Culture 41.5 (2008): 836-852. Print.
