Yes, when I was growing up it was actually difficult to find SF and fantasy without it. There was Anne McCaffrey and Ursula Le Guin outnumbered many times over on the shop and library shelves. 'The Female Man' was around but it was only when it came out in The Woman's Press editions alongside

April 09, 2026 - 07:28 UTC

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other SF/F books from them that it was very visible to your average reader. People forget that without the internet, if it was not in a shop or library near you or did not feature in a magazine or newspaper, then you largely had to rely on word of mouth or what publishers were putting out into the
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stores. These days it is much easier, but it is incredible still how much of the 'default' is towards male-orientated writing in these genres, though romantasy has shaken up that a bit. It has always been ironic given women buy and read more books by far than men, but especially nowadays.
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