Big List of Julia’s Favourite Amazing Female SFF Authors
Julia Kitvaria Sarene
If you know me, then you know Women in SFF is a topic I am rather passionate about. Some years back, I was prompted to look closely at my SFF…
sexism
An Incomplete List of Women Writing in SFF
Jennie Ivins
*Disclaimer* This is, as the title says, an incomplete list. I have tried to put each author in every subgenre they write in. It is very probable there are glaring…
Recommendations for SFF Authors of Various Identities
L. A. Young
Today’s society claims to be “woke” when it comes to the need for diversity, except we all know that isn’t true. The prejudice and bigotry presented on the news and…
The Cardboard Box: Women as Protagonists – Guest Blog by R.W.W. Greene
R.W.W. Greene
Gentle readers, I will be using wide strokes to paint the picture following. The end work could even be dubbed an abstraction. If you stand back from it and see…
Monsters, the Monstrous, and Reclaiming the Other
Leo Elijah Cristea
Monsters—or, in the very least, the monstrous—show up fairly frequently in most speculative fiction. Whether under the guise of dragons and creatures from the deep (ocean or space) or by…
The Problem with Abandoning the “Strong Female Character”
A. M. Justice
Yet another descriptor has been caught in the verboten term net. Recently, several essays have appeared arguing that people should stop using the term “strong female character” (SFC) or “strong…
Queer Representation in SFF
One of two things happen when you raise the issue of queer and gender rep in speculative fiction: The first is we’re told it’s not important, that unqueer people don’t…
Publishing and LGBT Erasure or My Issues with Robo-Boobs
A. A. Freeman
I always knew someone would tell me to add a Sexy Lady Robot to my book. When I first starting writing my novel, Echo of the Larkspur, I set out…
Breaking the Glass Slipper: Podcast Celebrating Women in Genre
Lucy Hounsom
This month, I’d like to officially introduce Fantasy-Faction readers to Breaking the Glass Slipper. The brainchild of Megan Leigh over at Pop Verse, it’s a bi-monthly podcast focusing on women…
Women Dominate Graphic Novels in 2015
Overlord
Looking at the Goodreads Choice Awards for 2015, of the top 8 Graphic Novels, 7 of them have women on their covers. It’s also worth noting that Attack on Titan,…
Gender and Stereotyping in Fantasy – Part Three: Balance
Last time we focused entirely on characters drawn from the YA SFF spectrum, visiting authors from Cassandra Clare to Maggie Steifvater and Meagan Spooner/Amie Kaufman. Whilst we’re still not done…
Suffrage or Just Plain Suffering? The Princess Problem in Fantasy
Rowan Bridgwood
It’ll never be easy to create a Cinderella who isn’t a victim. This has clearly been a challenge for Disney, whose live action version of the classic fairy tale opened…