The Female Man - Joanna Russ

     In the story, The Female Man by Joanna Russ, we open in Manhattan with our female protagonist, Joanna. As soon as the story begins, Joanna learns from the news that a visitor from another planet has come to Earth. This is no ordinary species, this is an alien lady named Janet Evasion Belin who is described as attractive and blonde. The planet she is from is unique because it is completely ruled by female aliens.

    Joanna becomes particularly curious with Janet, and continues to learn everything she can from the media. Eventually, Janet and Joanna meet and the alien invites Joanna inside her limousine. From this point on, Joanna and Janet move in with each-other at a hotel. They become friends and Joanna shows Janet around Manhattan. Janet is not completely acclimated to Earth and the earthlings, so Joanna does her best to make Janet a regular earthling.

    Joanna and Janet attend a party, and they end up in a conversation with two men about why the feminist movement is bad. Things lead to another and one of the men assaults Janet, but Janet being a strong alien lady kicks the mans ass.

    Later in the story, we learn that there are four different timelines intersecting with each other. This is why we see glimpses of Jeannine through Joanna's perspective. It becomes clear later that Janet, Jeannine, Joanna and Jael are the same entity. The only difference is that their home worlds are different. I really enjoyed this read because of the concept and the plot twist at the end. The idea of a multiverse has always boggled my mind and makes me think of parallel universes that I exist in. I wonder what my circumstances may be on that planet or universe. After-all, the way we are brought up and our circumstances tend to shape the person we are. Seeing how all four women differ from each other in this story was really interesting, and the concept of women ruling begs the question, are there planets where children rule? Are there planets where animals rule? Are there planets similar to ours?



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