Old Woman and the Sea

Evolution and the Feminine Aquatic

Bibliographic Data

ID3924496
AuthorsErika Lorraine Milam (0000-0002-0440-709X, New York University, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume34
Issue1
Pages198-215
Publication date2019-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueOsiris (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0369-7827 • E-ISSN: 1933-8287
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/703642
OpenAlexW2954426487
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited24

A curious sympathy between second-wave feminism and evolutionary theory forged a powerful connection between women and the sea. Speculative nonfiction by Elaine Morgan rewrote humanity's evolutionary past to be more fluid and more feminist in her Descent of Woman (1972). Later fiction-including Kurt Vonnegut's Galápagos (1985) and biologist Joan Slonczewski's A Door into Ocean (1986)-posited alternative futures in which long association with the ocean resulted in the evolution of new forms of biological and social order. The elusive boundary between science and fiction in these narratives highlights both the moral authority of nature and the subversive connotations of the aquatic

Art · Destiny (ISS module · Feminism · Futures contract · Humanity · Literature · Narrative · Order (exchange · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Sympathy · Psychology · Science Education and Perceptions · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life · Gender Studies · History · Philosophy

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