Protected: Zine on Sally Miller Gearhart

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Le Guin

I just found this cool drawing of Ursula Le Guin on a page that was reviewing one of her books and I thought you all might think it was cool! Here’s the link to the review.

Because the author has signed it, and I’ve cited the review on my wiki page, can I use this image on my wikipedia entry?

Thanks!

Immense Gratitude

Dear Sally Miller Gearhart,

I am so fascinated and captivated by the strides and sacrifices you’ve made in your life that have directly influenced my own life, and countless people in my generation and the generations after.

I want to express my extreme never-ending gratitude for the fact that, after obtaining tenure at San Francisco State in 1973 (which is monumental in itself) you created one of the first Women and Gender Studies programs in the country. I have no doubt that without this huge achievement that you made, the program that I myself am majoring in at the University of Oregon, 40 years later, would not exist. I’m sure of this because I know that a fund created in your name supports my program, and therefore supports me and my peers. 

I want to say thank you for being brave and going after tenure at SFSU, without that accomplishment you might not have been able to create a program teaching classes that were widely considered controversial. I know that some of your peers in the Science Fiction community were not so lucky as to get tenure, and I know that San Francisco and Northern California were seriously considering passing the Briggs Initiative, which would have been devastating for openly gay teachers, so the fact that you were openly a lesbian and you had the courage to fight for your right to teach and your right to tenure in a seriously adverse climate is inspiring to say the least. 

I could only dream of making the impact you’ve made, and I am truly awestruck by your passion and achievements. I just want to express my thanks. 

Hailey Chamberlain

 

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Uncovering the True (Feminist) Beliefs

For my final project, I plan to explore how some of the different authors we’re looking at identified themselves within the feminist movement. I’m interested in discovering this through looking at how some of the authors expressed their beliefs to their peers, and how they did or did not agree with each other’s beliefs. Obviously, I don’t want to generalize based on their personal interactions, but I believe I can discover a lot through their correspondences, especially considering the time period a lot of these correspondences were taking place during. The letters I will be looking at were written during the 1970’s, a decade that was extremely powerful for the feminist movement, when a lot of issues were being addressed and fought.

I plan on looking at three authors, the first being James Tiptree Jr.. I am curious about Tiptree’s ties to the feminist movement because Tiptree’s identity was controversial, in that there has been much debate as to which gender Alice Sheldon/ James Tiptree identified with. I believe that Tiptree’s gender fluidity could certainly be something that made him feel closer to the feminist movement and the fight for equality. I will also be looking at Joanna Russ because of her tendency to be greatly outspoken, in addition to the fact that she is one of the most widely-known feminist writers. I also expect that Russ will have a lot to express in her letters to Alice Turner about her being denied tenure, and how that related to her beliefs around feminism and activism. Lastly, I will be looking at Ursula Le Guin, because she consistently explored feminist themes in her texts, including the theme of deconstructing gender, which I find very interesting.

For my research I will be looking at all of the correspondences between the three authors themselves, in addition to looking at Joanna Russ’s correspondence with Sally Miller-Gearhart and Russ’s correspondence with Alice Turner. I’m interested in looking at Russ’s correspondence with Gearhart because we have discussed Gearhart’s affiliation with the lesbian-separatist branch of feminism, and I would be interested in reading Russ’s opinion on that, and I will be looking at her correspondence with Turner because I am interested in reading more about Russ’s feelings on being denied tenure and how that related to her beliefs at the time.

For the final, tangible project I am planning on making a feminist zine which will include information about the authors, information about feminism in the 1970’s (or “Second-Wave Feminism”), and finally information about the authors affiliation surrounding the feminist movement, including details about any activism they participated in and chronicled. I am really thrilled about making a zine because I will be able to not only research the letters in special collections, but I will also be able to look at and have a way to incorporate any photographs or media that I find relevant, in addition to media chronicling the feminist movement in the 1970’s.

Bibliography:

Joanna Russ Papers, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries,

Eugene, Or.

Ursula Le Guin Papers, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon

Libraries, Eugene, Or.

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The Lathe of Heaven

My first reaction after reading The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin was a need for intense reflection. The novel, written in 1971, seems more like a warning guide than science fiction.The main character, George Orr, is afflicted with the ability to dream “effectively” as he calls it. Effective dreaming is, in the simplest form, having your dreams come true. The first example is when George is a teenager and his aunt is staying with his family. He is bothered by his aunt’s presence and unintentionally has a dream that his aunt died in a car accident six weeks prior. He wakes to discover that is the reality, and he is recalling two different realities, one where she died in the car accident and one where she disappeared after his dream. Orr realizes his ability, and responsibility, and tries to retreat from it by abusing sleep and “pep” pills, a behavior that lands him in mandatory therapy with a doctor who specializes in dreams. This doctor, Dr. Haber, quickly understands that George is truly powerful and manipulates George’s dreams using “The Augmentor” a tool Haber developed that stabilizes the dream state.

While Haber’s manipulations start small, George dreams that Haber has a corner office with a view of Mt. Hood, they quickly escalate as Haber gains more power and tries to remedy the worlds problems. Haber attempts to use George’s abilities to solve war, overpopulation, and racism among other things, but every time a problem is solved there are devastating consequences. Throughout the novel, Haber moves from just manipulating George’s dreams to manipulating George, denying his requests for the therapy to help him stop dreaming effectively, Haber has his own agenda in which George plays a crucial part.

The clearest message that shines through Le Guin’s brilliantly intricate plot is the message that we are living in a fragile system, both environmentally and otherwise, and quick-fixes will only be detrimental, as Dr. Haber proves. George is wracked with worry about the different problems that plague his reality, and Dr. Haber manipulates his dreams in an attempt to solve these problems by making simple suggestions, like “dream there is peace on earth.” Unfortunately, when Dr. Haber attempts to solve the world problems in such a simple way, greater complications are created. When Dr. Haber suggests George dream of peace on earth, George dreams the world has united to fight intergalactic enemies. When Dr. Haber suggests George dream of a world less distraught by overpopulation, George dreams of a plague that kills off the majority of the worlds population. These situations continue throughout the novel, heavily suggesting that the world problems we are facing are issues that are going to take serious time and commitment to solve.

Another huge theme is the theme of power. George Orr is thought to be considerably weak by Dr. Haber and by himself, submitting to the doctors orders for the majority of the book until he finds liberation through a strong-minded lawyer. Dr. Haber starts out quite powerless, working in a dingy office, earning little respect for himself. By manipulating George’s dreams, Dr. Haber gains immeasurable power, making himself the director of the government operated Human Utility: Research and Development, or HURAD for short.  When he goes too far in his manipulations (SPOILER) and attempts to gain George’s power for himself, he tries to change the world to the way that he believes it should be and ultimately he is met with immense failure, creating a problem that only George is able to solve, finally channeling his desire to do good into recognizing and asserting his own power. Additionally, throughout all of the different realities that George creates, the president remains consistent, another glimpse of power, and the unwavering people who achieve it. This is certainly related to the events of 1971, where between the Weather Underground, Charles Manson, and the Vietnam War, there were obviously many different people fighting for power and vying for social and political change through their own means. The world that Le Guin was observing and the world she created are similar in that they demonstrate that no one person can decide what’s best for the world, a communal agreement and effort is required for significant, positive change.

Something that is certainly relevant, and wonderful, is the influence of women in this novel. There is only one notable female character, but she is extremely important to the plot. Prior to meeting Heather Lelache, George Orr believes himself to be, and therefore is, weak. He allows Dr. Haber to do whatever he wants with George’s mind, and while George is upset, he is compliant. Only when George decides to consult a lawyer does he meet Heather, and in that instance he starts to gain some strength and stand up for himself. They develop feelings for each other, and Heather encourages George to take matters into his own hands. While she is not consistent in his realities, the motivation to see her again inspires George to keep trying rather than fully submitting to Dr. Haber, and it is only with her support that George does recognize his power and stand up to Dr. Haber in the end.

Reading the novel today, it’s impossible to ignore the parallels between Le Guin’s predicted future and today. One of the most notable similarities between the ravaged world of Lathe, set in 2002, and real-world 2013, is the population. In the novel, the world population has reached a startling 7 billion people, a number we ourselves hit only recently. Because of this massive population there is incredible overcrowding, the main character lives in an SRO, and food has to be rationed, all things that could happen in our near future. As I said earlier, reading the novel today, it’s easy to interpret The Lathe of Heaven as a guide for what not to do, as well as a warning to what our world could become.

Le Guin predicts countless terrors that will befall the dystopian future, but the truly unsettling aspect of her novel is the fact that her future is now and we are living in her prophecy. The disturbing occurrences outlined in the novel are only a short cry from our own reality, and the worst things that befall her sci fi story are things that could certainly happen within our lifetimes.