Neal Stephenson on a Mildly Feminist Question

Jason Pontin asks the science fiction author whether he typecasts female characters in his books. This past spring, Jason Pontin, editor in chief of MIT Technology Review, conducted a wide-ranging but informal conversation with science fiction...

[@ahammer607]

He obliged us with two really, really horrible female characters in Seveneves.

[@Ematched]

yeah, he more than made up for his earlier deficit of bad females.

[@tedbushman3956]

Yeah, wow, talk about taking feedback. Watching Julia Flaherty go about basically destroying the human race for selfish purposes was agony. Not to mention how horrifyingly nuts Aida was.

[@Ematched]

Ted Bushman I bet Aida will be emo-hot in a film version. Like, sure she may end up eating you, but that makes her hotness more thrilling.

[@jackmace6531]

And after this day Neal went home so frustrated that he invented Julia Flaherty

[@thelegendaryblackbeastofaa115]

This is the first video where I've ever heard Stephenson mention Y.T. by name, and that was a treat. It's kind of sad, when your rarely get to hear your favorite author say anything about his most popular characters. Anyway, this was a cool clip, thanks for sharing! I honestly never even noticed that there were no female villains in Stephenson's work.

[@Ematched]

I hadn't noticed it either. I guess his books are generally so satisfying that I don't usually get around to nitpicking. I just continue to enjoy the stories.

[@jerzykowalskiShosa]

Agree, Seveneves has the promised female bad badass

[@Doctor_Yuri]

I think he was genuinely stumped for a bit there. Definitely something that just happens over the course of a writing career but wasn't done purposely.