A major societal change that occurred in the 1960's, 1970's, 1980's and 1990's was that many of the voices that had been silent (or ignored) began to be heard. This same change began to take effect in science fiction.

Before the New Wave, it was common for female SF writers to use male names and write about male protagonists. Frequently, women were present only to be rescued from having their clothes torn off by alien monsters (this is a stereotype, and there were certainly exceptions, but this formula was extremely common).

This began to change quite radically. As feminism began to have more influence in society, SF began to include more books for and about women. Some fantastic writing, bringing not just new writers, but new styles and themes, began to enter SF. Pamela Sargent and Ursula LeGuin, among others, were driving forces in these changes .

Similarly, the new freedom about sexuality included in the New Wave and cyberpunk included an acceptance, and experimentation with more complicated ideas of gender. Many writers began to include gay or bisexual or transgendered characters, and began to write favorably and interestingly about even more unique arrangements of love, sex and marriage among humans and aliens.

In addition, more writers of color, and writers who specifically dealt with issues of race, racial conflict and racial divisions began to take part in the politically-oriented SF of the New Wave, and by the time of cyberpunk and the present, these writers began to be accepted and widely recognized as bringing vital perspectives to SF.

These changes, these new opennesses brought to SF by the New Wave and cyberpunk, remain even after the specifics of those movements have begun to fade. This is what keeps SF a vital genre, successful for new generations of readers. It is a genre that, at its best, looks always ahead, and is always open to change.

Think now about genre. Are some genres still for women, some for men, some for one race? Some for another? Is this OK? Go to the discussion board and discuss this question.

Don't forget to do the quizzes for the stories you read for this module.

Remember, the password is "quiz" (without the quotes, right?)

Title	Direct Link to the Online Text (you will have to login with your library barcode)	Page number (in The Ascent of Wonder)
"Johnny Mnemonic"	Link	904
"The Psychologist Who Wouldn't Do Awful Things to Rats"	Link	672
"Nine Lives"	Link	43

And don't forget to be working on your Final Paper.