QUINT@RUTGERS.ARPA (05/22/85)
From: Anne Marie Quint {/amqueue} <quint@RUTGERS.ARPA>
The thing I fond oddest about various people's flames over Heinlein's
sexism is the fact that in almost all of his stories in which there is
any philosophizing about relationships, The Main Character always claims
that women are really running things, and men are just deluded.
In any case, in Expanded Horizons, Heinlein claims that Stranger
was written many years before it was published, in 4 pieces that are not
the obvious breakpoints of the book, and that he had held it back until
the buying public could deal with the concepts put forth in the book. From
what I hear, (having been too young at the time to experience it) it was
a great underground success, and there is even a Crosby, Stills, and Nash
song in which water brothership is mentioned... the context of the rest of
the song shows how 'revolutionary' the ideas were.
As for the girls tolerating Jubal, while he was an obnoxious old coot,
he was a rather nice, likeable obnoxious old coot, who understood a lot
people and interpersonal relationships, and mostly tried to be a good
friend to the people he liked. I could love such a man... although I would
probably have the good sense not to marry him.
ttfn
/amqueue
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