Clarkesworld Anthology 2012

by Wyrm Publishing

  What are you working on now, and what’s sharpening your wit’s edge?

  Nick Mamatas: I’m trying to finish a crime novel, Love is the Law, by the end of next month. Right now, I’m expending a lot of energy writing answers to interview questions about Bullettime, though not from anyone who has read the book and wishes to discuss it.

  Paul Tremblay: I’m slowly working on a satire of the publishing industry and society’s apocalyptic zeitgeist. I don’t want to give the title away because I might not be done for a while, and I don’t want anyone to steal it! The title is gold, I tell you, gold!

  About the Author

  Jeremy L. C. Jones is a freelance writer, editor, and teacher. He is the Staff Interviewer for Clarkesworld Magazine and a frequent contributor to Kobold Quarterly and Booklifenow.com. He teaches at Wofford College and Montessori Academy in Spartanburg, SC. He is also the director of Shared Worlds, a creative writing and world-building camp for teenagers that he and Jeff VanderMeer designed in 2006. Jones lives in Upstate South Carolina with his wife, daughter, and flying poodle.

  Another Word: Super Duper Sexual Spiritual Black Woman: The New and Improved Magical Negro

  Chesya Burke

  In 2001, Spike Lee popularized the term the Super Duper Magical Negro (SDMN) while speaking to students at Washington State and Yale University. The reference was about the stereotype of the magical Black person who is written into the story to help the white protagonist on his journey. The characters are often uneducated, male, and desexed. They do not have families of their own (The Stand’s Mother Abigail—the human race is her family) or desires of their own (The Legend of Bagger Vance’s titular character—his sole purpose is to help the white character). Nor do they exist outside of the white characters’ constructed idea of them (Noah Cullen—willingly dies to protect the white criminal character in The Defiant Ones). None of this is news. Everyone’s been bombarded with the image of the passive, Black person who only wants to serve.

  A little-mentioned incarnation of this archetype, however, has gone relatively ignored or unrecognized. Henceforth called the Super Duper Sexual Spiritual Black Woman (SDSPBW), this epitome mixes the fictional SDMN character with real-life stereotype of the Strong Black Woman to create a character who is a seemingly powerful representation of strong, self-assured authority.

  To understand this incarnation, it’s best to start by looking at the societal image of the Strong Black Woman (SBW). Supposedly a positive image, this stereotype is constructed as an example of true Black womanism. This stereotype is depicted within society as a Black woman who willingly suffers quietly without help, supporting others selflessly and without reward to herself. The SBW does not complain about her place in society and is held up as an example of how others should be. She is content, accepting, and although not necessarily happy, she is proud of the society she supports.

  Unfortunately, within the speculative genre, the real-life image of the Strong Black Woman is often conflated with the Magical Negro to create the Super Duper Sexual Spiritual Black Woman, which endows these characters with powers that are not only used for the good of the broader white society, but that are also not powerful enough change her status in the world.

  For the purposes of distinction, I differentiate the SDSPBW image from its predecessor, the Magical Negro, because of the use of three important factors: submissiveness, mysteriousness, and sexuality. Although the SDMN trope sometimes includes the first two, it is the third aspect that separates the SDSPBW from its antecedent. As a construct, both images work to affirm society’s ideology and current structure, but only the SDSPBW image uses the sexuality of Black women as a way to defend their current social status.

  In other words, much like the Strong Black Woman real life stereotype the Super Duper Sexual Spiritual Black Woman image not only justifies the marginalization of Black women, it is an acceptable fantasy for white society, much like the Magical Negro stereotype. It attributes a false sense of power to Black women through their sexuality which does not translate to actual autonomy for them. Instead it allows white audiences to uphold racial segregation philosophy and ideology.

  The sexuality of Black women has been a constructed reality for U.S. society since its beginning. From the image of the temptress slave woman to the Black jezebel, our society has used these images to control Black women’s movement within society. For the speculative genre, Black women have often become a fantasy of hyper-magical femininity portrayed through sexual prowess.

  Of the many popular and recurring images that support this idea, perhaps most obvious one is the Tia Dalma character from The Pirates of the Caribbean films. Introduced as Davy Jones’ erstwhile lover, Dalma is a flirty seductress who is more than willing to help the white characters for little or no reward. Originally the powerful goddess Calypso, she once held control over the seas and everything within it. Now she is “bound” into human form because she rejected her white lover, Davy Jones, and her power is reduced to only aiding the heroes on their journey, as she has been denied one of her own.

  For this character, the message is clear. Black women are meant to support white men. If they are unwilling to do this, the punishment is swift and uncompromising. Dalma has been relegated to a mere shadow of her former self, and society is better for it. Without Dalma’s current submissive state, the journey of the white men would be in jeopardy, and all of the fictional society would be threatened by the presence of her Black superpowers. Instead, she is depicted as an overly strong, sexual woman, who is rightly regulated to a submissive role for the benefit of this wider fictionalized world.

  Another popular image is the longstanding Marvel comic book character, Storm. Best known as the on-again-off-again leader of the X-Men, Storm is the queen of Wakanda (due to her marriage to the comic character Black Panther) and possesses the ability to control all elements of the weather, both on Earth and beyond. Despite all of this power, Storm, like most female comic-book characters, is portrayed in scanty attire, exposed breast and skimpy thongs, as opposed to her male counterparts whose costumes cover their entire bodies. Not surprisingly, her race is a constant presence as Storm is considered beautiful and sexy because “her features don’t fit any conventional classification. Not Negroid, Caucasian, or Oriental—yet somehow, an amalgam of the rarest elements of them all. White hair. Blue eyes.”

  This is quoted directly from an issue of Uncanny X-Men published in 1989—not 1889! Through her white features and the quiet strength of the Strong Black Woman, Storm is accepted as a member and often leader of the X-Men. As with Tia Dalma, the endowment of supernatural powers has not changed Storm’s position in society. Rather, these powers have made her more white, relegating her Blackness or “Negroid[ness]” to second-class status. For Storm, supernatural powers not only do not upset the racial and gender hierarchy but they forge a constant battle between her race and gender, causing a binary opposition where she is forced to choose among these two identities. Needless to say, the genre has often chosen the more white identity for her, as evidenced by the light-skinned Halle Berry who played Storm in the X-Men films.

  Trying to move outside of these images often proves difficult for Black women. Genre fans sometimes level anger toward Black women when they step outside of their accepted roles. An obvious example of this is with the 2012 controversy of the film adaptation of The Hunger Games. Although the characters of Rue and Thresh are described within the book as having “dark brown skin and eyes,” many fans leveled racist insults at the Black actors playing the roles. However, it was the actress Amandla Stenberg (Rue) who received the most flack. Fans tweeted that they were unable to connect to the character after being confronted with her Black presence in the film. The problem was not only that this Black girl did not deserve sympathy, but that she was in the wrong place; she did not belong in their fantasy futurist society. Give her a couple of years, throw her on stage as a teen seductress (àla Lisa Bonet in Angel Heart), and everything will be exactly as it sho
uld be.

  Taking a look at the broader genre, it’s easy to see that not all Black female characters are depicted as Super Duper Sexual Spiritual Black Women. However, it’s also easy to see that way too many of them are. The problem is not that there are negative characters who also happen to be Black women (and minority people as a whole), but that there are rarely any contrasting positive images. Even the character of Rue dies after granting wisdom and medicine to the white protagonist. So while the obvious racism is held under scrutiny, the problematic issue of Rue being placed within the text simply to advance the plot for the white character has been left unexamined. Real life Black women don’t have supernatural powers, and they aren’t stronger than white women—but they are expected to be, so this effects the way people interact with them.

  One of the problems for genre writers is that, while trying to be progressive by endowing these characters with supernatural powers, they have simultaneously relied on old, worn-out stereotypes—including the sexual aggression of Black women. Whether inadvertent or not, these genre conventions very well may create a space where Black women are more subjugated through the bestowment of supernatural powers, as that appearance leaves the mostly white audience unthreatened in their patriarchal and racial positions in society.

  About the Author

  Chesya Burke has been writing speculative fiction for over a decade. Her work has appeared in such publications as Dark Dreams I, II, and III: Horror and Suspense by Black Writers, and her short story collection, Lets Play White, received high praise from Samuel Delany and Nikki Giovanni. Several of her articles appeared in the African American National Biography published by Harvard and Oxford University Press. She is the recent recipient of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) scholarship, and is a juror for the 2012 Shirley Jackson awards.

  Editor’s Desk: Professionally Speaking

  Neil Clarke

  I’m quite happy to report that since the last issue, I have not seen the inside of an emergency room. I’m still on the mend from my heart attack, but doing well enough to keep my doctors pleased.

  I had hoped to spend the first weekend in September in Chicago, the site of this year’s Worldcon and the Hugo Award Ceremony. Instead, I’m spending the weekend at home. It would have been nice to meet with friends and participate on panels, but given my current situation, several people expressed concern about attending the Hugo ceremony. They are most likely correct.

  I’m very grateful to be a nominee this year and would have loved to have participated. Award ceremonies can be stressful, even when you don’t expect to win. Should I win, I’ve asked Kate Baker to attend on my behalf. It’s not fair to ask someone to do that unless you are prepared to give them an acceptance speech to read. My first draft simply read, “If anyone out there is watching the ceremony in NJ, please have them send an ambulance to my house.” The final version was more appropriate, I assure you.

  Speaking of awards, the World Fantasy Award nominees were announced a few weeks ago and we received some great news (that I obviously survived):

  Best Short Story Nominee: “The Anarchist Wasps and the Cartographer Bees” by E. Lily Yu, Clarkesworld, Issue #55

  Best Novella: “Silently and Very Fast” by Catherynne M. Valente, Clarkesworld, Issues #61-63 and WFSA Press

  Special Award, Non-Professional: Kate Baker, Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan & Sean Wallace, for Clarkesworld

  This is the third time we’ve been nominated for a Special Award and, as usual, the competition is pretty tough. What makes us eligible for non-professional status? The easiest way to put it is that none of us do this for a living. After any significant life-threatening event, like a heart attack, you’ll end up spending a lot of time reevaluating your priorities in life.

  I’ve always dreamed that someday Clarkesworld would reach the point where the staff and I would get paid a reasonable wage. That dream has evolved into something more concrete. Becoming “professional” is now a goal.

  To my knowledge, there hasn’t been an independent online magazine that has successfully made the jump to paying authors and staff professional rates without dipping into the publisher’s pockets or becoming a patron of some other organization. This doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

  In fact, with our current infrastructure for esubscriptions via Amazon and Weightless Books, it’s within the realm of possibility. Increasing our subscriber base, improving the stability of our advertising revenue, and restoring our annual anthology series are all important steps towards achieving our goal and I believe they can be accomplished without sacrificing what we value in this magazine.

  So now you know what I’ll be doing in the background for months to come. If you’d like to help, here are a few things you could do:

  Tell friends about our subscription options on your blog, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Goodreads, etc. Let’s try to hit two thousand subscribers by the new year!

  Write a nice review over on our Amazon subscriptions page (more important than you might think)

  Recommend potential advertisers to us

  Subscribe or purchase our books, if you don’t already

  Offer to deliver promotional materials to conventions

  Send us your marketing ideas

  Comment on a story you enjoyed

  If you’d rather just read and enjoy, that’s great too! Thanks for your continued support and I hope that we continue to earn it in the future.

  About the Author

  Neil Clarke is the editor of Clarkesworld Magazine, owner of Wyrm Publishing and a 2012 Hugo Nominee for Best Editor (short form). He currently lives in NJ with his wife and two children.

  Clarkesworld Magazine

  Issue 73

  Table of Contents

  A Bead of Jasper, Four Small Stones

  by Genevieve Valentine

  England under the White Witch

  by Theodora Goss

  The Battle of Candle Arc

  by Yoon Ha Lee

  The Future, One Thing at a Time

  by Matthew Johnson

  A Germ of an Idea: An Interview with John Varley

  by Jeremy L. C. Jones

  Another Word: Practicing Dissatisfaction

  by Daniel Abraham

  Editor's Desk: Six and Counting

  by Neil Clarke

  Breaking Through

  Art by Julie Dillon

  © Clarkesworld Magazine, 2012

  www.clarkesworldmagazine.com

  A Bead of Jasper, Four Small Stones

  Genevieve Valentine

  There’s a cloud across Europa.

  Every time Henry looks out at the flat, grey disc, he tries to think what you’re meant to think: We’re almost there, soon you can breathe, it’s nearly rain.

  He tries.

  Henry knows, every time he goes out on the ice in a crawler to fix a transmitter, that he’s driving over the work of generations.

  They’ve been here for centuries: drilling through ice until they hit water, sending drones to scoop molecular mess from the Storms planetside, spreading kilometers of fertilizer to bleed nitrogen, cultivating native algae and some bacteria they’d carried with them, bright little soldiers for hundreds of years, kept inside until there was enough atmosphere for any of them to survive on their own.

  A few did, these days, in little patches gripping the ice; they were well-marked, so you wouldn’t run over them.

  (The biologists promised that if all went well, there might be hydroponic gardens on the surface, someday.

  That was all they could promise. There wasn’t any rock to rest soil on; there would never be trees, here.)

  They’re trying, though, trying for any life they can make or build or find. None of them is ever going back home again. They’re determined to find everything here that’s worth finding.

  These days, when he goes to the far side, the bio team sends him with sonar in case there’s sea life that won’t come near the equator, where the pull fro
m Jupiter is so great that the ice stretches and cracks. It makes sense, says the bio team, that some species would find a less volatile home.

  Henry doesn’t blame them. He prefers the quiet, too.

  The year before Henry and his parents reached it—while they were in that long, heavy sleep around the sun—there had been the first discoveries of animals under the ice, eyeless and white and in numbers.

  That was the first generation of people who began to call Europa, home.

  Not that the name really takes; there are a lot of names on Europa, and the more you think about them, the harder things get.

  The whole place is chaos.

  The ice itself is pulled and scratched and pockmarked with so many things that needed naming that they ran out of just one sort, and now you start a speed-test marker in Greece and finish it in Ireland, mythologies piled on top of one another, linae and maculae and craters.

  They all mean something—this is where a foreign body hit, this is where the surface fractured as Jupiter’s gravity pulled the water close, this is where the ice has sunk deep enough you can’t get a sledge out of it—but the longer you’ve lived in the base, he thinks, the more you realize this moon has been slapdash from the beginning.

  The base is between Cadmus and Minos, north of the pole, on a plain of ice that’s thick enough and calm enough to build on. They use other linae for distance markers, or for transport. Pryderi goes almost down to Rhiannon, near the south pole, and whenever there’s something that needs testing on the far side of the cloud, that’s the trench they set the drone into.