Presenter(s): Zoe Cameron
Faculty Mentor(s): Judith Raiskin & Linda Long
Poster 133
Session: Social Sciences & Humanities
This research analyzes the correspondence between science fiction writers Joanna Russ and James Tiptree, Jr. in the midst of the Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1970s. Unbeknownst to Russ, Tiptree is not a man but a pen name; the woman behind the facade is in fact Alice Sheldon, a 60-year-old with a Ph.D. in experimental psychology living in Mclean, Virginia. It is Alice Sheldon’s use of her male pen name, James Tiptree, Jr. that allows for a open, candid discourse and provides a window into the struggle and development of feminist language. Together, the two engage in a discussion involving Russ’ experience with feminism, Tiptree’s interest in underground feminist writings and the lack of terminology used to describe the woman’s experience. This research, which utilizes letters from the James Tiptree, Jr. collection in the University of Oregon Archives, not only highlights the struggle women faced in defining themselves but the language they lacked to do so.