Women in the Apocalypse: Part I

There is actually a surprising list of novels where women take the lead in an apocalyptic scenario. Many of these authors have to grapple with the longevity of socially-policed gender roles once society dies away. For this reason, as a sociologist, I've always found these kinds of thought experiments interesting. Books for your reading pleasure:

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler - Lauren's afflicted with hyperempathy syndrome, a delusion which makes her vulnerable to feeling the pain of others. You can imagine how this might play out in an post-civilized world, where violence is the norm and she can't defend herself without also experiencing the pain. Her sense of empathy leads her to create and follow her own religion, Earthseed, after the mindless slaughter of her family. Most of the novel documents her journey northward, picking up followers and taking on the role as a spiritual guide in the chaos. Personally, the religious rumination was difficult to follow, but other than that the book is graphic and sticks with you for days. There's a sequel, Parable of Talents, in which Lauren's settlement is invaded by a fascist Christian regime that rises in the wake of the catastrophe. Warning: Even more graphic and violent than the first.


Into the Forest by Jean Hegland - What I'd consider a quiet apocalyptic scenario, two sisters ride out the collapse of civilization in their deserted California home. It's a long time coming, and while resigned to the inevitable for some time, their father's accidental death is the one event for which they hadn't prepared. Without giving away pivotal plotpoints, the story involves how two girls come of age and into their own sexuality as social norms fade away.




The Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson -Sort of difficult to accept at 24, but the book is supposed to be something akin to Atlas Shrugged for Kids, a vehicle for distributing Objectionism to a wider audience (yeah, actually). The plot follows ten-year-old Lisa in her Chicago suburb as she takes control of a world in which all adults are wiped out by a virus, leaving only their children behind. The main point of the novel is really about what qualities make a leader and how Lisa--as opposed to her brutish male enemies--exemplifies them.




The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - How could I make any decent list and not praise the virtues of this book? A fascist government demonstrates its authority in a post-war scenario (the details of the scenario are hazy) by demanding tribute from all twelve districts under its domain. The tributes are children, one boy and one girl, selected by lottery to fight each other to the death in a televised arena. After her younger sister is selected in the lottery, Katniss volunteers herself for the games and her stubborn perseverance makes her a symbol of revolution. Check out the sequel, Catching Fire, as well.


Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra - (Actually, it's a comic book!) A virus wipes out all life on earth containing a Y chromosome, leaving Yorick and his pet monkey the last two dudes on the planet. For whatever reason, Yorick looks exactly like Ryan Reynolds. But whatever. The point of the story is to observe from a male perspective what women do after men are gone and the heterogeneity of responses. I thought it was a pretty realistic take on the scenario. It's not painted as a utopian, female-friendly paradise like it might have gone but neither is it a hopeless woe-is-us where-is-the-men? scenario either, and I appreciate that.