Her literary criticism combines an interest in feminism and an interest in science fiction.
A major critical piece, "What Can a Heroine Do? Or Why Women Can't Write" (1972), is basic to an understanding of Russ's fiction. In this essay she notes that the myths upon which so much fiction depends cast men in the significant roles of self-actualization and women in the roles of mere reflectors of masculine potency. Female protagonists are not allowed to achieve selfhood by overt and dramatic acts of bravery, and male protagonists do not lose their sexual identity in the successful pursuit of a career. Science fiction affords a much greater opportunity for varieties of action and achievement in a successful female protagonist. Russ has made good use of this opportunity.
From the short stories with which she began her science-fiction career to her recent children's story, Russ has explored a cluster of interrelated themes and experimented with a variety of formal and generic combinations. At the center of this thematic cluster is a series of oppositions: self versus other; individual versus society; male versus female; actual versus possible; matter versus spirit; life versus death; and human versus divine.
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