Talk:Zenna Henderson
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See the discussion at http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/browse_thread/thread/84205c876d03e162
Somebody had added to this page a paragraph about "there were no black characters in Henderson's stories", "there weren't many Jewish characters", etc. I'm certain the person who wrote that was well-meaning, but it would be a hopeless and thankless talk to try to use Wikipedia to chronicle all the things that writers did NOT write about. It seems best to discuss what a writer actually DID write about it. I've noticed that Spike Lee's movies never have any Swedish characters, nor do they ever seem to depict pastry chefs from Belize. But I don't think Spike Lee is racist any more than I think Henderson was, and I don't think such observations are worthwhile in what is intended as an objective, accessible Wikipedia encyclopedia entry.
- I wrote that. The reason I added it in was that Henderson's anti-Semitism clashes badly with her overall theme advocating understanding and tolerance of those who are different. She didn't just "not put in many Jewish /Mexican /whatever characters", it was the fact that her few ethnic characters were revolting stereotypes. It's an observation, I admit, and if it isn't NPOV enough it should be removed. I thought it was relevant because it illustrates the gap between Henderson's aspirations and her actual views. Like her acidulous observations of her teaching colleagues in "The Anything Box" and "You Know What, Teacher?", or her many stories that start out "I don't like children", her hatred of minorities was something she obviously fought for a lifetime to control. People who think of Henderson as all sweetness and light with those People stories should read the rest of her stuff. --Bluejay Young 21:02, August 17, 2005 (UTC)
I reverted back to the paragraph discussing racial issues. Any controversy and issues about this subject belongs on the discussion page prior to removing large amounts of text. I'm afraid deciding material "doesn't belong" in the encyclopedia excludes differeing points of view. I would encourage discussion about this -- I love her work, but she wasn't all sweetness and light and deserves a deeper realistic portrayal. WBardwin 03:24, 19 August 2005 (UTC)
With all due respect to Bluejay Young, whose views I'm certain are heartfelt, what he is saying about Zenna Henderson having a "hatred of minorities" or writing characters who are "revolting stereotypes" simply isn't supportable from her actual work. Henderson's body of work is collected into a few books which are relatively easy to find in libraries or purchase from used bookstores. If there's no actual support for these statements, they should be excluded from this article, as per Wikipedia's guidelines that work here should be verifiable and supportable by published evidence. I think we have no way of knowing what Henderson's real views were in life, but unless we can support claims or racial hatred or stereotyping with something - anything - that she wrote, whether in available personal letters or in any of her published writing, stories, books, etc., then these sentences simply have no place here. Henderson's stories explicitly draw upon Jewish stories and themes, as with the names and plots of many of her "People" stories. Henderson never criticized Judaism or Jews in any of her writing. Where somebody got the idea that there is "anti-Semitism" in Henderson's work, I just don't understand.
- Read "Sharing Time", in the Holding Wonder collection. --Bluejay Young 04:36, 3 October 2005 (UTC)
"An early editorial review commented that her in-depth treatment of the People's practices indicated a "more intimate knowledge" than she had publicly admitted." A more intimate knowledge of what, psychic abilities? That would be very interesting. Somewhere I seem to remember reading that Henderson had some contact with Rhine, but I can scarcely believe this. I may be confusing her with someone else (James Tiptree Jr.?). --Bluejay Young 02:49, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
