and once again, the Pit is the home of pleasant tidings.
Does that return us to the proper vibe?
I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but the thread has turned into a book review/discussion.
They are all very interesting posts. I’ve found some books I wanna read.
But is this the thread for it?
Books have more spine than some of our posters …?
I suppose you’re right…?
Rename the thread:
BOOK CLUB, MOTHERFUCKERS!
I agree.
I linked upthread to a new thread on books inspired by this discussion, so hopefully they’ll move on.
Hint hint.
They were breeding themselves as the ruling class of an interplanetary empire. They made themselves tall for the same reason that short men don’t get elected President of the United States - people associate height with strength and authority.
As for why that made them beautiful in addition to authoritative, remember whose eyes we were seeing them through. Miles always had a thing for tall women.
Scalzi’s Lock In books have an ungendered protagonist. IIRC, you can get audiobook versions with a male or female narrator. Wells’s Murderbot isn’t gendered. Quite a lot of F&SF authors are matter of factly playing with characters’ gender, culture, skin color, sexual orientation, ability, etc. and the cultures in which they live. Becky Chambers is a good example, and the aforementioned Ann Leckie. I saw a lovely performance of Left Hand of Darkness where Genly Ai and Estraven were played by female actors; Le Guin had been involved with the production. /book club
ETA: Wil Wheaton and Amber Benson on depicting gender in John Scalzi’s next audiobook - The Verge
Sometimes when something falls into a pit, it’s hard to get it out.
If you want these motherfucking hijackers to take the hint, you can’t just vaguely reference some link somewhere upthread,
you have to aggressively promote it!
I don’t think that thread is the appropriate place either, though. I didn’t read those books as a kid.
It’s the Pit, most hijacks are free from moderation (according to a message from Miller) and it’s a fair assumption that while people (including good posters) will eventually make an ass of themselves, it won’t be continuous. So I try to keep an even keel when it comes to:
Motherfucking SNAKES HIJACKERS on this Motherfucking PLANE Thread!
There, implementing @wolfpup’s techniques!
Seriously though, I’ll still direct posters to a dedicated Pit thread on a subject or specific poster when they exist. Of course, someone could and should start another Pit thread for no-holds-barred book reviews a la:
[ extremely NSFW video on reading by Bomani Armah for something more Pit-worthy, and while it parodies racist stereotypes, I think it’s appropriate for all races and individuals, individual health concerns permitting ]
Hey, you don’t gotta sell me on Bujold. I’ve been a fan for twenty years and change. It’s my wife who didn’t like it.
She also hated The Princess Bride for the same reason.
That was fun!
Likewise. I was middle-aged before I discovered Bujold.
So what is the right thread for
A Wide-ranging Discussion of the Depiction of Genders Both Real and Imaginary, Gender Politics, and Gendered Character Roles Across the History of Science Fiction / Fantasy
?
Cuz it ain’t this thread and I wanna get back to some Pit-worthy ass-kickin’ of our bush league miscreants.
I know I’ve got nothing to add to that thread even as I wish it existed, so it’d be real junior-moddish of me to start it then bow out. I do think my proposed title above could also use some tightening. 
A diligent Mod so inclined could probably prime that thread with at least a hundred posts from this one. Maybe 150. Not that I would ever expect that much Mod effort for something like this. Just pointing out how large this digression has become.
Yeah, but then some previously thought of as reasonable poster is going to end up right back in the pit when they get all twisted out of shape because a spaceship was allowed to change genders, and their childhood was ruined.
OK. Pit them here w a cite to their dumbassery there. Just like we do for other sorts of dumbassery.
Hmmm.
Is a “dumbassery” a kind of vertical conveyor for fish in a processing factory? 