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One of his books had a millionaire who had his consciousness put into a woman's body. i read it a very long time ago and can't remember which one it was. Anyone know?

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Though in fairness to Heinlein, this is more about people reading a coherent philosophy into his writing rather than him trying to push a watertight philosophy.

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ORIGINAL: ShaktiSama

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ORIGINAL: angelikaJ
Here's the thing though, in context, what he meant was vastly different.
In addition to handling any profession that a man was capable of, Heinlein revered women because [we] also give birth and nurse babies and run the home.

That's exactly what Peon just said, angelikaJ.  He just didn't try to romanticize it into some kind of "special privilege" to serve as broodstock, be powerless to participate in the economy or in politics, and serve as a slave in the household as an additional benefit.

Bob and other men like him can keep their "special privileges" for women who enjoy submitting to them.  Me, I'll take equal rights, equal pay and equal opportunity, thanks--along with the equal responsibilities that go with them.  Nor am I going to take it solely upon my shoulders to raise the children and clean up everyone's mess.

I'll take equality, and without a side order of shit sandwiches, thanks.  By force, if necessary.

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ORIGINAL: PeonForHer

A variation of the conservative feminist theme  - and still a dodgy line, though.  This is pretty much identical to the "Cosmo Feminist" idea that became very fashionable in the 1980s.  A woman could be both a domestic goddess and smash her way through the glass ceiling at her City office with her big hair and shoulder pads. 

What was worse was that the view that women could be all those things began to change such that they had to be all those things.  As so often, oppression through the back door, disguised as compliment or even adoration.  Finally, though, people began to argue, "hold on, there are only 24 hours in a day!"

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ORIGINAL: angelikaJ
And of all the adjectives I might consider as they pertain to the majority of the women in Heinlein's stories "powerless" would not be one of them.

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ORIGINAL: sambot

And I guess I'm the weirdo- because I liked Starship Troopers- both the book and the movie.  I wouldn't sell Verhoeven short- the book is written from a first person viewpoint of a teenage boy who's somewhat naive and grows up with the pain of war- Verhoeven's movie has a much more adult perspective from the get/go and I thought was a reasonable extrapolation from the book.  OK, so I was bummed the MI weren't bopping around in exoskeletal suits closer to Transformers, but having seen the movie once or twice more, that really doesn't detract much. 

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ORIGINAL: DemonKia

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ORIGINAL: PeonForHer

A variation of the conservative feminist theme  - and still a dodgy line, though.  This is pretty much identical to the "Cosmo Feminist" idea that became very fashionable in the 1980s.  A woman could be both a domestic goddess and smash her way through the glass ceiling at her City office with her big hair and shoulder pads. 

What was worse was that the view that women could be all those things began to change such that they had to be all those things.  As so often, oppression through the back door, disguised as compliment or even adoration.  Finally, though, people began to argue, "hold on, there are only 24 hours in a day!"

Peon, & I mean this in the sweetest way, guys who wanna get all more-feminist-than-thou make me all kinds of hot & bothered, lol . . . . . . . . You go right ahead, I'm gonna sit over here in my cave & make grunting noises at you occasionally . . . . .

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ORIGINAL: samboct
As noted above, Stranger in a Strange Land is an allegory.  How powerful are the women in the Bible? 

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ORIGINAL: pinnipedster

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ORIGINAL: sambot

And I guess I'm the weirdo- because I liked Starship Troopers- both the book and the movie.  I wouldn't sell Verhoeven short- the book is written from a first person viewpoint of a teenage boy who's somewhat naive and grows up with the pain of war- Verhoeven's movie has a much more adult perspective from the get/go and I thought was a reasonable extrapolation from the book.  OK, so I was bummed the MI weren't bopping around in exoskeletal suits closer to Transformers, but having seen the movie once or twice more, that really doesn't detract much. 

Again, it isn't so much that I didn't like the movie -- it was OK for what it was.  (And even better, I liked some of the computer-animated series "Roughnecks", if you've seen any of that....)  The problem, for me, is that it didn't feel like a war movie; it felt like a monster movie: the bugs didn't seem to be all that intelligent -- and, for that matter, neither did the human soldiers: there wasn't a lot of strategy beyond "Charge!"  In the book, it's clear that an MI private is a professional, highly skilled soldier.  In the film, they felt much more like cannon fodder.  At least, that's how I remember it -- it's been a while.