Nina Boal
| Fan | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Nina Boal |
| Alias(es): | Susan Douglass |
| Type: | fan writer, fanzine editor |
| Fandoms: | Darkover, Professionals, Star Trek: TOS |
| Communities: | |
| Other: | |
| URL: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Nina Boal was involved in Darkover fandom. She edited the fanzine Moon Phases. She is the author of Darkover short stories "The Meeting" (published in Tales of the Free Amazons (1980) and, revised, in Free Amazons of Darkover (1985)[1]; "Flight" (Red Sun of Darkover, 1987); "Shelter" (Towers of Darkover, 1993); and "Shards" (Snows of Darkover, 1994).[2] She wrote an article "about the sexism of the Terrans" for the fanzine Jumeaux.[3]
She also wrote, edited and published in Professionals fandom and was known for injecting topical gay issues into her stories (ex. AIDS).
A feminist, she felt that the lack of strong female characters in slash fan fiction may partially be a symptom of misogyny. From Normal Female Interest in Men Bonking: Selections from The Terra Nostra Underground and Strange Bedfellows:
I still think that misogyny plays a significant part in some segments of slash writing and reading. Some stories leave women characters completely out. For instance, even though The Professionals routinely depicts women as full members of CI5, many B/D slash stories posit CI5 as an all-male force. Other stories will 'feminize' a male character (Doyle, Vila, Illya, sometimes Avon) and then pile explicit sexual humiliations on him with the overt or covert implication that he 'really wants it'; this shows a certain amount of homophobia as well, i.e. bash the 'pansy.' Some stories portray strong women characters in a show as jealously shrewish, completely evil bitches; some of the depictions of Ann Holly or Dr. Kate Ross (both from Pros) or T'Pring (Trek) immediately come to mind. A few slash readers, writers and/or editors have expressed overt distaste or disgust at the idea of Lesbian sexuality, all while extolling the glories of male/male relationships. But I'm now sure that misogyny is not the only reason for the vast overabundance of men.[...] As women, reading and writing about men in a mostly women's 'space' may be a way for women to deal with their feelings about men in our male supremacist society. Even Lesbians have to learn about how to deal with men (most of us can't go off into a 'womyn's paradise'). Lesbians don't usually engage in sexual relationships with men, but we see men in their positions of power. Straight and bisexual women usually have to deal with men in a more intimate way. [4]
Fanworks
References
- ^ Darkover in Series List from The Locus Index to Science Fiction. Accessed October 9, 2008.
- ^ SS > SF > book reviews > Nina Boal, Archived version accessed October 9, 2008, archive link created October 30, 2014 .
- ^ Re: Finally Chapter 17 Last C. March 9, 2005 post by Nina Boal to mzb_newsletter on Yahoo! Groups. Accessed October 9, 2008.
- ^ "Normal Female Interest in Men Bonking": Selections from The Terra Nostra Underground and Strange Bedfellows", Archived version Nina Boal, "Lavender Lilies, addendum" TNU 6, May 1991